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THE 



PESTS OF THE FARM; 



BEING AN ACCOUNT OF THE VARIOUS 



DEPREDATING ANIMALS, BIRDS, AND INSECTS 



ANNOY THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



DIRECTIONS FOR THEIR DESTRUCTION. 



WITH ILLTTSTKATIONS ON WOOD. 



NEW YORK: 
C. M. SAXTON, 

AGRICULTURAL BOOK PUBLISHER. 

1852. 






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Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1852, by 

C. M. SAXTON, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern 
District of New York. 









*at. Offloe Lite* 

******** 



S. W. BENEDICT, 

Stereotyper and Prixter, 
16 Spruce street, N. Y. 






PUBLISHER'S ADVERTISEMENT. 



The Publisher, having found the want of small, cheap Books, of 
acknowledged merit, on the great topics of farming economy, and 
meeting for those of such a class a constant demand, offers, in his 
Rural Handbooks, of which this is one, works calculated to fill the 
void. 

He trusts that a discerning Public will both buy and read these 
little Treatises, so admirably adapted to all classes, and fitted by 
their size for the pocket, and thus readable at the fireside, on the 
road; and in short everywhere. 

C. M. SAXTON, 

Agricultural Book Publisher. 



EDITOR'S PREFACE. 



The title and purpose of this little book, were suggested by the 
English one of Richardson. Beside the name ; this has little connec- 
tion with that, as it is wholly American, some trifling portion only 
having been taken from it. The pests of the American farm being 
nearly all American, it was necessary to draw its matter from Amer- 
ican sources. The Editor is indebted mainly to Godman and Audu- 
bon for the portion relating to Quadrupeds ; to Wilson ; Bonaparte, 
Ord and Audubon for that relating to Birds; and to Harris and Miss 
Morris for that relating to Insects. 

The matter contained in this little book is nowhere else accessible 
in one volume, nor in popular shape. To obtain the information 
here given, many expensive ones, without this, must have been con- 
sulted ; and while these circumstances should commend it to every 
farmer, the subject matter should command his attention and secure 
his interest. A. S. 



CONTENTS. 



SECTION I. 

QUADRUPEDS. 

The Wild Cat, page 8 — Northern or Canadian Lynx, 9— The Skunk, 10 — 
The Weasel, 13— The Otter, 17— The American Porcupine, 18— The 
Mole, 19 — The European Rabbit, 23 — The Hare or American Rab- 
bit, 25— The Fox, 27— Wolves, 30; the Common Wolf, 30; the 
Prairie or Barking Wolf, 32 ; the American Black Wolf, 33— The 
Woodchuck or Marmot, 35— The Raccoon, 37— The Black Bear, 
40 — Squirrels, 45 ; the Cat Squirrel, 45 ; the Black Squirrel, 45 ; the 
common Grey Squirrel, 45 ; the common Red Squirrel, 46 ; the 
Ground Squirrel or Chipmunk, 47 — Rats, 48 — Mice, 56 — Ferrets, 59. 

SECTION II. 

PREDACIOUS BIRDS. 

Predacious Birds, p. 60— The Eagle, 60— The Bald Eagle or White Headed 
Eagle, 61— The Sea or Gray Eagle, 64— The Crow, 65— The Raven, 
69— Hawks, 70 ; American Sparrow Hawk, 70 ; the Red Tailed 
Hawk, 72— Owls, 72 ; the Barred Owl, 72 ; the Little Owl, 74 ; the 
Red Owl, 75; the Great Horned Owl, 75. 

SECTION III. 1 

INSECTS. 

Insects, p. 76— Wire Worm, 77— Iules, 80 — May Bugs, 81 — Rose Bugs, 
82— Pea Bug, 84— The Apple Worm, 85— The Apple tree Borer, 
88— The Turnip Fly or Beetle, 89— Potato Fly, 90— Grasshoppers 



CONTENTS. 

and Locusts, 91 — Locusts, 92 — Plant Lice, 94 — Bark Lice, 96 — Peach 
tree Borer, 97— Caterpillars, 98 ; Yellow Bear Caterpillar, 98 ; the 
Salt Marsh Caterpillar, 99 ; Apple tree Caterpillar, 101 ; Lackey 
Cateipillar, 103 — Locust tree Borers, 106 — Apple, Cherry and Plum 
tree Caterpillars, 108; Corn Caterpillar, 111; Cut Worms, 112— The 
Plum Weevil or Curculio, 115 — Canker Worms, 118 — The Hop 
Caterpillar, 123— The Bee Moth, 124— The Grain Moth, 127— The 
Hessian Fly, 130. 



THE PESTS OE THE FARM. 



Any scientific mode of arrangement, in the treatment of such a 
very diversified subject as the present, would only prove a source 
of unnecessary toil and mystification to the practical reader. The 
principal living pests from whose annoyances farmers, or those 
holding land, whether as farmers or mere country gentlemen, are 
likely to suffer, are easily divisible into three great sections — viz., 
quadrupeds, birds, and insects, I adopt the latter term in its old 
and widest sense — viz., as applying not merely to insecta, but to 
worms, slugs, and other land molluscs infesting plants and fruits. 
Under the first head, of Quadrupeds, will be the Wild Cat, the 
Skunk, the Weasel, the Otter, the Hedgehog or Porcupine, the 
Mole, the Rabbit, the Hare, the Eat, the Mouse, the Fox, the 
Opossum, the Mink, the Muskrat, the Wolf, and the Raccoon. 
Under the second head will be Predacious Birds, such as the Eagle, 
the Raven, the Owl, the Kite, the Hawk, &c, whose predatory habits 
tend usually towards the same quarter, and which may to a great 
extent be destroyed, or their ravages guarded against, in the same 
manner and by the same means. Under the third, will be Insects, 
properly so called, as Beetles, Weevils, Wasps, Fli'es, the Wireworm, 
the Turnip-fly, the Beetle, the various Caterpillars, and other 
ravenous larvce ; nor shall I omit some account of the aphis vastatw, 
to whose devastation many persons attribute the loss of the potato ; 
and, observe, I shall not confine my observations to such creatures 
as / know to be pests, but shall further describe such as are only 
suspected, and also those which are calumniated, which / Tcnoiv not 
to be pests, many of which, indeed, are on the contrary serviceable, 
and to be regarded as friends rather than as foes, to be preserved 
rather than extirpated. 



\ 



S THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

SECTION I. 

QUADRUPEDS. 

The Wild Cat. — In form, the "Wild Cat closely resembles its 
domesticated namesake ; it is, however, more compactly built, is of 
larger size, and its tail is not only shorter, but blunter at the point. 
From the latter circumstance has arisen the not yet obsolete fable 
of wild, demon-like cats, being found, with hooks or spikes at the 
extremity of the tail ; for, in the common Wild Cat, the extremity 
of the tail is usually destitute of hair, and is not unfrequently fur- 
nished with a hard and nail-like process, proceeding from a sort of 
unaccountable exposure of the last joint of the tail. The domestic 
cat will also occasionally become wild. This is not, as might be 
supposed, the descendant of the Wild Cat, but is of Egyptian ori- 
gin. It will, however, breed with the Wild Cat, and I have ascer- 
tained that the progeny are fertile. The young are also fertile 
among themselves ; and, hence, according to the admitted theory 
of zoologists, they are of the one species. 

When the domestic cat becomes wild, it is, by many degrees, a 
more troublesome and more crafty enemy than the naturally wild 
animal. Whether naturally wild, or only having been rendered 
so by circumstances, however, both animals present the same char- 
acteristics of disposition, habit, and place of abode. Their prey is 
the same, their habitudes are the same, and, consequently, the 
same mode of destruction will be found to apply to both. The 
principal specific difference between the wild and the common Cat . 
is the length of the intestines — those of the Wild Cat being con- 
siderably shorter. 

The Wild Cat exceeds the common cat in size, standing usually 
upwards of eighteen inches in height. The body is shorter in pro- 
portion ; the lips are always black, and the prevailing color of the 
fur a rusty or reddish grey. This fur will be found to make a 
warm and comfortable lining for winter shoes. 

Now, as to the destruction of the cat, either traps or poison will 
effect it with facility. A steel spring-trap is best, and I prefer the 
square to the round form. Chain it firmly to some fixed object ; 
bait with a dead fowl or piece of meat, smeared or rubbed with 
valerian. The cat is so very fond of the odor of this substance, 
hence familiarly termed " cat-mint," that it will go anywhere for 



QUADRUPEDS. 9 

the purpose of rolling upon it. The annexed cut represents the 
best form of trap for this purpose. You should proceed with cau- 




tion to release the captive felon. Should any blood be spilled 
upon the trap, wash it off, and change the bait every night. 

Northern or Canadian Lynx. — The northern lynx is a fierce 
and subtle creature, exhibiting most of the traits of character which 
distinguish animals of the cat kind. To the smaller quadrupeds, 
such as rabbits, hares, lemings, &c, it is exceedingly destructive, 
never leaving the vicinities they frequent until their numbers are 
altogether destroyed, or exceedingly thinned. But the ravages of 
the northern lynx are not confined to such small game ; it drops 
from the branches of trees on the necks of deer, and clinging 
firmly with its sharp hooked claws, ceases not to tear at the throat 
and drink the blood of the animal until it sinks exhausted and ex- 
pires. It attacks sheep and calves in the same manner, and preys 
upon wild turkeys and other birds, which it is capable of surpris- 
ing, even on the tops of the highest trees. 

The northern lynx is fearful of man, offers very little resistance 
when attacked, and is easily killed by a smart blow over the back. 
This animal is not often found to approach closely to settlements, 
though occasionally it does, when it is destructive to sheep and 
calves, but frequents the plains and woods where the animals on 
which it subsists are obtained in the greatest abundance. 

The northern lynx has a large body and strong legs, and mea- 
sures about three feet from the tip of its nose to the end of its 
tail, which is about six or seven inches long, and black for half its 
length towards the extremity. The head is thick and round, and 
the ears sharp and tipped with a tuft of black hair. There are 
four or five small undulating bands on the cheeks, and the labial 
whiskers are white. The animal is about sixteen inches high. 

The general color of the northern lynx is deep reddish, marked 

on the flanks with small oblong spots of a reddish brown, with 

small round spots of the same color on the limbs. The ears 

are black externally, but covered by an angular space of shining 

1* 



10 



THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 



ash color ; the eyes are surrounded by a whitish circle to a 
black longitudinal mark above them, running from each side to- 
ward the front. The back is never marked by a black band along 

its middle. 

In summer dress the pelage is short, the hair being brown at 




THE LYNX. 

the base and of a bright red at the point. In winter the hairs are 
longer and all their points are whitish ; the silky hairs, which are 
most numerous and long in winter, render the color of the animal 
ash or whitish, which in summer gives place to the more decided 
red, marked with brown spots. The lynx is to be shot or caught 
by traps, like the wild cat. 

The Skunk. — Pedestrians, called by business or pleasure to 
ramble through the country during the morning or evening twi- 
light, occasionally see a small and pretty animal a short distance 
before them in the path, scampering forward without appearing 
much alarmed, and advancing in a zig-zag or somewhat serpentine 
direction. Experienced persons generally delay long enough to 
allow this unwelcome fellow-traveler to withdraw from the path : 
but it often happens that a view of the animal arouses the ardor 



QUADRUPEDS. 11 

of the observer, who in his fondness for sport thinks not of any 
result but that of securing a prize. It would be more prudent to 
rest content with pelting this quadruped from a safe distance, or to 
drive it away by shouting loudly ; but almost all inexperienced 
persons, the first time such an opportunity occurs, rush forward 
with intent to run the animal down. This appears to be an easy 
task ; in a few moments it is almost overtaken ; a few more strides, 
and the victim may be grasped by its long and waving tail — but 
that tail is now suddenly curled over the back, its pace is slacken- 
ed, and in one instant the condition of things is entirely reversed ; 
— the lately triumphant pursuer is eagerly flying from his intended 
prize, involved in an atmosphere of stench, gasping for breath, or 
blinded and smarting with pain, if his approach were sufficiently 
close to allow of his being struck in the eyes by the pestilent fluid 
of the skunk. Should the attack on this creature be led by a dog, 
and he be close at hand when the disgusting discharge is made, he 
runs with tail between his legs howling away, and by thrusting his 
nose into the soil as he retreats, tries to escape from the horrible 
effluvium which renders the air in the immediate vicinity of the 
skunk too stifling to be endured. Thus is an animal, possessed of 
very trifling strength and no peculiar sagacity, protected by the 
hand of nature against the most powerful and destructive enemies. 
A few glands secrete a most noisome and intolerably stinking fluid, 
and this scattered with peculiar force upon the body of his ene- 
mies, or even in the air, is sufficient to disarm the violence 
of most quadrupeds, and induce man himself rather to avoid than 
to seek an encounter. 

The organs by which this fluid is formed, are placed near the 
termination of the digestive tube, and the ducts from the glands 
open into the rectum, by the aid of whose muscles the fluid is 
ejected with astonishing force, and is aimed with great accuracy, 
rarely missing the object, if discharged while within the proper 
distance. The faculty this animal possesses of annoying its ene- 
mies by the discharge of the fluid just mentioned, causes it rather 
to be shunned than hunted, which the value of its skin would 
otherwise be sure to occasion. 

The skunk inhabits the whole of North America, and is also 
found throughout a considerable part of the southern portion of 
the continent. As the colored markings vary exceedingly in dif- 
ferent individuals, it is not surprising that naturalists have made 
several species of this animal, though without any foundation in 



12 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

nature. All the species proposed by systematic writers are re- 
ducible to one, the subject of this article, Mephitis Americana, or 
American skunk. 

The fetor produced by the skunk is especially characterized by 
all who have experienced it as suffocating or stifling, which is 
owing to its peculiar concentration. The predominant odor is that 
of muskiness, but in so condensed and aggravated a form as to 
render it almost insupportable, even at a considerable distance from 
the spot where it is first discharged. A very good idea may be 
formed of this stench by breaking and smelling a leaf or stalk of 
the plant called skunk cabbage (the Dracontium fetidum, or pa- 
thos feticlum), resembling it in every respect except in strength, 
which perhaps no artificial accumulation of this vile scent could 
ever equal. 

The fluid ejected by the skunk is not merely offensive by its 
stench, but also in consequence of its highly stimulating and acri- 
monious qualities. When any of it is thrown into the eyes, it is 
productive of very violent and dangerous inflammation ; we must 
suppose that this peculiar acrimony, rather than any mere offen- 
siveness of odor, is the cause of the marked repugnance evinced 
by dogs, as these animals show not the slightest sign of uneasi- 
ness from the presence of the most nauseous and putrid effluvia 
from animal or vegetable substances, yet run howling and trying 
to thrust their noses into the ground after having been exposed to 
this pungent perfume from the skunk. 

In its extreme volatility it bears a considerable resemblance to 
true musk. The smallest drop is sufficient to render a garment 
detestable to the wearer and his companions for a great duration 
of time, and without any perceptible diminution of intensity. 
Washing, smoking, baking and burying articles of dress, and in 
fact every effort short of destroying the materials of which they 
are made, seem to be equally inefficient for its removal. This 
scent is not only thus enduring when the fluid is sprinkled upon 
clothing, but the spot where the animal is killed, or where the 
matter was ejected, retains it for a great length of time. 

If the skunk be killed while unsuspicious of the approach of 
danger, or before time has been allowed for the discharge of 
his artillery of perfume, the animal is not in any way disagreeable, 
and may be approached closely or even eaten without the least 
unpleasantness, if the glands be carefully taken out. Its flesh, 
when the odorous parts have been carefully removed, is said to be 



QUADRUPEDS. 13 

well flavored, and resembles that of a pig considerably. It is 
eaten by the Indians, and occasionally by hunters, with much 
relish. 

The skunk is most generally found in the forests or their im- 
mediate vicinity, having its den either in the hollow of an old 
tree or stump, or an excavation in the ground. It feeds upon 
the young and eggs of buds, and on small quadrupeds, wild 
fruits, &c. Occasionally the skunk gains access to the poultry- 
yard, where it does much mischief by breaking and sucking the 
eggs, or by killing the fowls. When resident in the vicinity of 
farm-houses, it remains for a long time without giving notice of 
its presence by emitting its offensive fluid, which proves how ri- 
diculous is the notion that the urine of this animal is the source 
of its disgusting fetor ; for were this the fact, the whole country 
it inhabits would be rendered almost insupportable to every 
other creature. 

We have already stated that the color of the hair is various 
in different individuals of this species at different seasons and 
periods of life. Very commonly it is of a blackish brown over 
the whole of the .body, except on the top of the head, or imme- 
diately between the ears where there is a white spot, and the tip 
of the tail, also, is white. Some individuals have a slight white 
mark on the breast. The hairs of the tail are long and bushy, 
and, with the exception of their tips, are of a dark brown color. 
But, as heretofore stated, scarcely two of them are colored pre- 
cisely in the same way. The length of a full-grown skunk is about 
eighteen inches, and the tail about seven, the long hah* at the ex- 
tremity making nearly one-half of this length. 

The best way of destroying the skunk is the trap. The same 
form of trap recommended for the wild cat will answer, but it should 
be of smaller size. Box-traps have been recommended ; but I have 
little confidence in them, and prefer the steel. A few leaves or 
grass should be cast over the trap, in order to disguise its character. 
The skunk is not a very sagacious animal, however, and his want 
of cunning renders his capture, by the preceding method, very easy. 
If a box-trap be used at all, let it be a long one, open at both ends ; 
cast bushes over it ; bait and trail the bait for some distance along 
the path at both extremities of the trap. 

The Weasel. — Among the small quadrupeds inhabiting Ame- 
rica, few are to be found equaling the weasel or ermine in 



14 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

beauty — perhaps none that excel it in the qualities of courage, grace- 
ful celerity of movement, and untiring activity. Its whole aspect in- 
spires the beholder with an idea of its character which is well sup- 
ported by its actions. The long and slender body, bright and pier- 
cing eyes, keen teeth and sharp claws, clearly show that, however di- 
minutive the animal may appear, it is destined by nature to destroy 
other creatures more numerous and less powerful than those of its 
own race ; this length and slenderness of body are accompanied by a 
peculiar degree of flexibility, and by a strength of limb, which, in 
so small an animal, may be fairly esteemed surprising. There is 
scarcely an opening through which its prey can enter, where the 
weasel cannot follow, and having once gained access, its instinctive 
destructiveness is only allayed when no other victim remains to 
be slaughtered. 

In the northern parts of this continent, and the northern por- 
tions of Asia, the ermine is found in the greatest abundance ; yet 
it is by no means limited to northern regions, since it is found 
throughout a vast expanse of country, reaching from the highest 
northern latitudes to the middle states of the Union. In the mid- 
dle and eastern states it is most generally known as the weasel ; 
farther north it is called stoat in its summer, and ermine in its win- 
ter pelage of pure white. 

The habits of the ermine weasel are very analogous to those of 
the common weasel of Europe, and as its general configuration is 
so nearly similar, it is not surprising that this animal should have 
been confounded with the European species. This weasel fre- 
quents the barns and out-houses of plantations, and its retreat is 
generally well secured beneath the floors or rafters, amid accumu- 
lations of timber or stone, or in similar situations. Mice and 
various other depredators on the granary are the special objects of 
its pursuit, and the rapid multiplication of many of these devour- 
ers of grain could scarcely be sufficiently restrained, were it not 
that the weasel is capable of tracing them throughout their laby- 
rinths, and possesses the disposition to destroy all that come 
within its reach. If the efforts of this weasel were confined to the 
destruction of these little depredators, we might consider it as the 
best friend to the husbandman ; but occasionally a contribution is 
levied on the hen-roost, and the morning's light exhibits an uni- 
versal slaughter of the poultry, whose throats are cut, or heads 
eaten off. It is scarcely possible to prevent such occurrences when 
these animals are resident in the vicinity, as they can gain access 



QUADRUPEDS. 15 

where few other creatures can enter ; then their swiftness of mo- 
tion and keen bite soon render the escape of their victims impos- 
sible. 

Still it must be acknowledged that there are many situations in 
which the services of this little animal may bo esteemed a positive 
good ; for such is the fecundity of many of the depredators on the 
grain, that nothing short of the destruction of the whole crop 
would ensue, were it not that the weasel is continually thinning 
their ranks and killing greater numbers than are required for its 
mere subsistence. 

The disposition which makes this weasel so useful under ordi- 
nary circumstances, forbids an attempt to increase its usefulness by 
domestication, for the purpose of freeing our houses from mice, &c. 
Notwithstanding it might be so far tamed as to take up its resi- 
dence about our dwellings, it would be exceedingly dangerous to 
expose the lives of the inmates to the blood-thirstiness of this 
quadruped, which is rendered doubly dangerous from the circum- 
stance of seeking its prey during the hours devoted by man to 
sleep. 

The weasel is found in greater abundance on barren grounds or 
open plains than in the woods, which in all probability is owing to 
the greater number of mice that frequent the former situations. 

While pursuing their prey, weasels are said to resemble little 
hounds running upon a trail; their tails are carried horizon- 
tally, while with eager haste and most agile movements they fol- 
low their prey by the scent. Except when in their summer dress, 
it is very difficult to distinguish their actions, as in winter their 
pure white pelage is so nearly the color of the snow, as to render 
it almost impossible to see them. When the weasel is hunted and 
closely pursued, like other species of this genus, it has the faculty 
of ejecting from a peculiar glandular apparatus, a fluid of a pow- 
erful musky odor ; this, though it may serve to retard the pursuit 
of some of its enemies, is too harmless a resource to save the 
weasel from the hands of man. 

There is but little probability of taming the weasel unless it be 
captured very young, and even then the period of its mildness 
would pass away with its early youth. When caught in a trap 
and subsequently kept in a cage, it exhibits every sign of the most 
unappeasable disposition to kill or injure every being it is able to 
master. Various attempts have been made to domesticate the 
weasel, but all without success, and frequently the restlessness and 



16 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

impatience of the animal lias appeared to increase with the dura- 
tion of its imprisonment. 

We have mentioned that in the eastern and middle part of the 
United States the ermine weasel frequents out-houses, stone-heaps, 
piles of timber, etc., and though capable of following its prey into 
small holes, does not burrow in the earth. 

The ermine weasel, in its summer dress, is of a light ferrugi- 
nous or chestnut-brown color over the whole of the head ; this 
color extends in a rounded spot below the angle of the jaw ; the 
whole back, sides, and half of the tail next the body being of the 
same color. The other portion of the tail is blackish, becoming 
gradually darker as it ajjproaches the extremity, where it is quite 
black, and the hairs terminate in a point resembling that of a 
camel's hair pencil. The external and anterior half of the fore-legs 
are of the same color as the upper part of the body, and there are 
three small spots of white over the base of the toes of the right 
foot, and one on the left, over the first or shortest digit. 

The under part of the animal is nearly of a pure white, begin- 
ning at the extremity of the under jaw and spreading broadly as 
it passes over the throat, where it forms a point on each side, al- 
most reaching to the base of the ear. The white then narrows 
slightly in descending the neck, spreads broadly upon the breast, 
and then suddenly growing narrower, passes down the inner and 
posterior part of the fore legs. Thence it passes along the belly, 
where it is again narrowed, and then spreading out widely at the 
groin, it terminates at the upper and anterior part of the thigh, 
becoming visible for a short distance on its outside. 

The fur in summer is short, soft and silky to the touch, not 
varying perceptibly in length except on the snout, where it is quite 
short, and covering the digits of the fore and hind feet, where it is 
rather longer than on the other parts, and conceals the nails en- 
tirely. On the tail the hairs are longer and coarser than on the 
rest of the body, though still soft. 

The ermine weasel, in its winter pelage dress, is of a pure white 
over the whole head, body, and limbs ; half of the tail to its ex- 
tremity only retaining its black color. This white color is so pure 
in the northern regions as to render it almost impossible to dis- 
tinguish these animals upon the snow, when the ends of their tails 
are not in sight. The whiteness is not always thus pure, but the 
fur is slightly tinted with pale yellow on the tip. 



QUADRUPEDS. 17 

The ear of the ermine weasel is broad at its base, and the ori- 
fice leading to the internal ear large ; the ears are not covered 
with fur on their posterior surface, but by a very short down. On 
the superior and anterior part of the external ear, there is some 
hair of considerable length growing from that part of the ear 
which would correspond with the helix and anti-helix of the human 
ear, and almost covering the concha. The eyes of this animal are 
small and black, yet prominent, clear, and lustrous. 

The fur of the ermine becomes longer, thicker, and finer in win- 
ter than in summer ; this effect seems to be a general consequence 
of rigorous seasons on all animals, without reference to the perma- 
nence or mutability of their coloring. 

To take these pests, use such square steel traps as are already 
described, but smaller ; bait with small birds, their tails dipped in 
musk and aniseed ; the weasel displaying as strong a predilection 
for this substance as the cat does for valerian. 

The Common Otter varies in size — some adult specimens mea- 
suring no more than thirty-six inches in length, tail inclusive ; 
while others, again, are to be found from four and a half to five 
feet long. The head of the otter is broad and flat ; its muzzle is 
broad, rounded, and blunt ; its eyes small and of a semicircular 
form 5 the body is long, rounded, and very flexible ; legs short and 
muscular ; feet furnished with five sharp clawed toes, webbed to 
three-quarters of their extent ; tail long, muscular, somewhat flat- 
tened, and tapering to its extremity. The color of the otter is a 
deep blackish brown ; the sides of the head, the front of the neck, 
and sometimes the breast, brownish grey or dusky white. The 
belly is usually, but not invariably, darker than the back ; the fur 
is short, and of two kinds ; the inferior or woolly coat is exceed- 
ingly fine and close ; the longer hairs are soft and glossy, those on 
the tail rather stiff and bristly. On either side of the nose, and 
just below the chin, are two small light-colored spots. So much 
for the appearance of the otter ; we now come to its dwelling. 

The native haunt of the otter is the river bank, where, amongst 
the reeds and sedge, it forms a deep burrow, in which it brings 
forth and rears its young. Its principal food is fish, which it 
catches with singular dexterity. It lives almost wholly in the 
water, and seldom leaves it except to devour its prey ; on land it 
does not usually remain long at any one time, and the slightest 
alarm is sufficient to cause it to plunge into the stream. Yet, na- 
tural as seems a watery residence to this creature, its burrow is per- 



18 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

fectly dry ; wore it to become otherwise, it would be quickly aban- 
doned. The entrance, indeed, is invariably under water, but its 
course then points upwards into the bank, towards the surface of 
the earth, and it is even provided with several lodges or apart- 
ments at different heights, into which it may retire in case of 
floods, throwing up the earth behind it as it proceeds into the re- 
cesses of its retreat ; and when it has reached the last and most 
secure chamber, it opens a small hole in the roof for the admission 
of atmospheric air, without which the animal could not of course 
exist many minutes ; and should the flood rise so high as to burst 
into this last place of refuge, the animal will open a passage through 
the roof, and venture forth upon land, rather than remain in a 
damp and muddy bed. During severe floods, otters are not un- 
frequently surprised at some distance from the water, and taken. 

In a wild state, the otter is fierce and daring — will make a de- 
termined resistance when attacked by dogs — and being endued 
wdth no inconsiderable strength of jaw, it often punishes its assail- 
ants terribly. I have myself seen it break the fore-leg of a stout 
terrier. 

The otter is easily rendered tame, especially if taken young, and 
may be taught to follow its master like a dog, and even to fish for 
him, cheerfully resigning its prey when taken, and dashing into 
the water in search of more. 

The common otter is only to be regarded as a pest when fish- 
ponds or rivers are concerned. His habits are interesting, and of a 
gentle and inoffensive description, and his race is not so numerous 
as to require or deserve extirpation. 

The American Porcupine. — The American Porcupine exhibits 
none of the long and large quills which are so conspicuous and formi- 
dable in the European species, and the short spines or prickles 
which are thickly set over all the superior parts of its body are 
covered by a long coarse hair, which almost entirely conceals them. 
These spines are not more than two inches and a half in length, 
yet form a very efficient protection to our animal against every 
other enemy but man. Too slow in its movements to escape by 
flight, on the approach of danger the porcupine places his head 
between his legs, and folds his body into a globular mass, erecting 
his pointed and barbed spines. The cunning caution of the fox, 
the furious violence of the w^olf, and the persevering attacks of the 
domestic dog, are alike fruitless. At every attempt to bite the 
porcupine, the nose and mouth of the aggressor are severely wound- 



QUADRUPEDS. 19 

ed, and the pain increased by every renewed effort, as the quills of 
the porcupine are left sticking in the wounds, and the death of the 
assailant is frequently the consequence of the violent irritation and 
inflammation thus produced. 

In the remote and unsettled parts of Pennsylvania the porcupine 
is still occasionally found, but south of this state it is almost un- 
known. According to Catesby it never was found in that direc- 
tion beyond Virginia, where it was quite rare. In the Hudson's 
Bay country, Canada, and New England, as well as in some parts 
of the western states, throughout the country lying between the 
Rocky Mountains and the great western rivers, they are found in 
great abundance, and are highly prized by the aboriginals, both for 
the sake of their flesh and their quills, which are extensively em- 
ployed as ornaments to their dresses, pipes, weapons, &c. 

The porcupine passes a great part of its time in sleep, and ap- 
pears to be a solitary and sluggish animal, very seldom leaving its 
haunts, except in search of food, and then going but to a 
short distance. The bark and buds of trees, such as the willow, 
pine, ash, &c., constitute its food during the winter season ; in 
summer, various wild fruits are also eaten by it. 

The porcupine is only a pest, as he may occasion the death of a 
valuable dog. The method of destroying him is by the gun and 
by traps. 

The Mole. — The mole is, by most agriculturists, ranked among 
the most troublesome pests of their farm ; while others again deny 
that it deserves this bad character, and are even disposed to ex- 
patiate on its utility. It is certain that the mole is of carnivorous, 
nay, I should perhaps say, of insectivorous habits — its food con- 
sisting chiefly of worms, slugs, snails, beetles, cockchafers, grubs, 
and other such creatures. In destroying these there can be no 
doubt but that the mole does good service to the farmer, and de- 
serves so far to be looked on with some degree of favor. On the 
other hand, however, it is no less true that in forming its burrow, 
the mole throws up a heap of earth, known as a molehill, which is 
apt to interfere with the progress of the mowers. Some say that 
the holes also are serviceable to the soil, by throwing up the sub- 
soil, and thus renewing the surface, but it must be at the same 
time admitted that this burrowing loosens and often disinters the 
roots of grain. Whether, therefore, this animal is to be regarded 
as a pest or not, depends on the opinion of the individual farmer 
on whose lands he may make his appearance. 



20 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

There are two kinds of moles that are pests — viz., the shrew- 
mole and the star-nose mole. 

The shrew-mole is found abundantly in North America, from 
Canada to Virginia ; often living at no great distance from water- 
courses, or in dykes thrown up to protect meadows from inunda- 
tion. But 30 for from exclusively inhabiting such places, as stated 
in various books, I have found them in far greater numbers at a 
v> ry considerable distance from any water-course, and in high 
oftener than low grounds. In the country they frequent the gar- 
dens, where their subterranean galleries are sometimes productive 
of vexation to the farmer, especially as the animal occasionally 
courses along the rows of pea-vines, &c, apparently for the purpose 
of feeding on their roots. This, we shah hereafter learn, is most 
probably an error, and we may find good reasons for believing that 
the shrew-mole should be considered rather as a benefactor than a 
depredator. 

The shrew-mole burrows with great quickness, and travels under 
ground with much celerity : nothing can be better constructed for 
this purpose than its broad and strong hands, or fore-paws, armed 
with long and powerful claws, which are very sharp at their ex- 
tremities, and slightly curved on the inside. These are thrust for- 
ward so as to be even with the extremity of the flexible snout, and 
the earth to be removed is pressed outwards, and at the same time 
thrown backwards with remarkable quickness. The soft and 
polished fur with which this animal is covered, preventing a great 
degree of friction, tends to facilitate its subterranean march. 

Xumerous galleries, communicating with each other, enable the 
shrew-mole to travel in various directions, without coming to the sur- 
face, which they appear to do very rarely, unless their progress is im- 
peded by a piece of ground so hard as to defy their strength and 
perseverance. The depth of then- burrows depends very materially 
on the character of the soil, and the situation of the place : sometimes 
we find them running for a great distance, at a depth of from one to 
three inches, and again we trace them much deeper; after follow- 
ing such a gallery for several yards, it occasionally communicates 
with another going deep into the earth. 

The most remarkable circumstance connected with these bur- 
rows is the number of hills of loose dirt which are frequently 
formed over the surface of them. These hills of loose earth are 
usually found in considerable numbers, at a distance of two feet or 
a little more apart, being from four to six inches high, and about 



QUADRUPEDS. 21 

the same in diameter. I have often examined these eminences, 
and have never been able fully to understand how they are form- 
ed ; a slight motion is observed at the surface, and presently this 
loose earth is seen to be worked up through a small orifice, 
whence, falling on all sides, by its accumulation the hills just men- 
tioned are produced. It seems to be brought from some distance, 
for on breaking up the gallery, it is evident that more earth had 
been thrown out than could have been removed in excavating the 
immediately adjoining portions of the burrow. In one instance I 
have seen the shrew-mole show the extremity of its snout from the 
centre of one of these loose hills, where it had come at mid -day, as 
if for the purpose of enjoying the sunshine, without exposing its 
body to the full influence of the external air. 

Under ordinary circumstances the burrows are simply oval- 
arched galleries, running forward either straight or in gentle 
curvatures, at the depth heretofore mentioned, and they are most 
regular in soils abounding in earth-worms. In the dry and sandy 
soil I have found them very irregular in direction and depth, and in 
the woods, uniformly leading round the roots of trees, under which 
large excavations are frequently to be traced. TYe can readily un- 
derstand the object of these excavations when we recollect that the 
ants very often have their nests in such situations, and their larvae 
or eggs constitute a favorite food of the shrew-mole. The burrows 
made by this animal are sometimes found to terminate under large 
stones, where it resorts to gather the insects, which are numerous 
in such situations. I have traced a burrow of this sort close to a 
barn wall, and then following it nearly around the whole house, 
have found that it passed under every large stone in its vicinity, 
although not directly in the general course of the gallery, the 
cavity beino* much larger beneath the stones than elsewhere. 

The favorite food of the shrew-mole is the earth-worm ; grubs 
and insects of various kinds he destroys in great quantities, and it 
may fairly be questioned whether the good done in this way does 
not more than overbalance any evil attendant on its presence. It is 
true that this animal is accused of eating grass roots, and roots of 
succulent vegetables, and may thus be productive of some mis- 
chief in gardens, but scarcely to so great a degree as to constitute 
a serious evil. The presence of the shrew-mole in fields of Indian 
corn appears to be decidedly advantageous from the destruction of 
great numbers of slugs and worms ; but in dry seasons these ani- 
mals, if numerous, may injure small grain or grasses to a consider- 



22 THE FESTS OF THE FARM. 

able extent, not only by the wounds they inflict on the root with 
their sharp claws, but by raising the sod while forming their bur- 
rows, so as to withdraw the roots from the influence of the moist 
soil below. 

The Star-Nose Mole frequents the banks of rivulets, and the 
soft soil of adjacent meadows, where their burrows are most nu- 
merous, and apparently interminable ; in many places it is scarcely 
possible to advance a step without breaking down their galleries, 
by which the surface is thrown into ridges, and the surface of the 
green sward in no slight degree disfigured. The excavations which 
are most continuous, and appear to be most frequented, are placed 
at a short distance below the grass roots, on the banks of small 
streams ; these are to be traced along their margins, following 
every inflexion, and making frequent circuits in order to pass large 
stones or roots of trees, to regain their usual proximity to the sur- 
face nearest the water. 

The form of the burrow does not perceptibly differ from that 
made by the shrew-mole ; but very few hills are to be found in 
the localities inhabited by the star-nose. The chamber-cell resem- 
bles that described in the last chapter, being a space of several 
inches dug out of some spot where the clay is tenacious, and the 
cell least exposed to injury from the weather or other accidents. 

The system of dentition peculiar to this genus, would lead to 
the inference that the quality of its food must in some respects 
differ from that used by the shrew-mole ; but on this point it is 
not easy to say more, than that as the star-nose prefers moist and 
low situations, and the shrew-mole is most frequently found in dry, 
and rather elevated spots, they feed on the larvae and insects pro- 
per to such places, which are doubtless of dissimilar kinds. In a 
state of captivity both animals feed readily on flesh, either raw or 
cooked, and neither seem to show any fondness for, nor willingness 
to eat, vegetable matter. 

My duty consists merely in pointing out the most efficacious 
method of destroying the animal : those farmers who think he 
should be rather protected than warred against, are not obliged to 
use the means I merely place within their reach. 

Few dogs will kill or even mouth the mole, and if a dead one 
be presented to a dog, he will usually curl up his lips, and turn 
from it in apparent disgust. I have heard this asserted of cats 
also, but am not positive of the correctness of the idea, never hav- 
ing myself made the experiment. Traps and poison are the means 



QUADRUPEDS. 23 

best calculated to effect their extirpation. The ordinary mole-trap 
is to be obtained from any of the agricultural implement-makers, 
or any of the farm seed-shops. The principle of its construction 
depends on a spring formed of some elastic sort of twig, stuck in 
the ground, and bent until its other extremity is attached to the 
trap. The trap is placed in the mole's run, and is baited with 
earth-worms or a bit of raw meat. On the mole entering the trap 
and setting the spring at liberty, it is suddenly caught up, a noose 
drawn tight by the reaction of the twig, and the mole suspended 
by the neck. 

I recently met with what I conceive to be a far more efficacious, 
and less troublesome mode of destroying moles. 

Take a quantity of fresh worms, put them in a wooden box, 
with a small quantity of carbonate of barytes in powder, and let 
them remain for an hour or two ; then find out the runs where the 
moles leave the fences for the land, lay in every run Hve or six 
worms, and continue doing so as long as the worms are taken 
away by the moles. I was infested w T ith moles before I used this 
remedy, which was about fifteen years since, but have never been 
injured since, by giving a little attention to them in the spring. 

The European Babbit has been introduced into America, and 
will soon be spread widely. 

The rabbit is unquestionably, when left to its own unrestrained 
devices, a very serious pest, but an animal which may, neverthe- 
less, with proper management, be rendered a very considerable 
source of emolument, while the annoyance they have occasioned 
will be, at the same time, abated. 

If you would have rabbits and only profit, never suffer by them ; 
keep them in enclosures, and provide them with well-sheltered huts. 
The hutches should stand on dry ground, and be well ventilated. 
If sloping, so much the better, as this allows the wet to run, and let 
there be tanks placed in front to receive it. It is, when mixed 
with straw, valuable as manure. 

Be careful while you have your rabbit-house well ventilated, 
that it at the same time afford them sufficient shelter, and be care- 
fully preserved from damp. Do not give green food in a wet 
state ; it is apt to produce the rot. If, however, a proportionate 
quantity of oats or other hard food be given, you need have no 
fear on this head. Keep them clean. Let the breeding-boxes 
have two apartments — one for day, and the other, furnished with 
a bed, for night. Do not give more food than will be consumed 



24 



THE FESTS OF THE FARM. 



at oiio time, and keep the bucks apart. The doe will breed at live 
or six months old, and she carries her young* thirty days. But the 
buck should not be again admitted to her until about four days 
after kindling, and lie should be kept from her during her preg- 
nancy, or lie will cause her to cast her young. The young may 
be weaned at the age of from four to five weeks. The number of 
young produced at each litter is from ten to thirteen. If the doe 
be weak after parturition, she may be given beer caudle, which she 
will drink greedily, or warm grains, or tepid milk and water 6 
Oats may be given daily. 




THE RABBIT, 

Now as to the Eabbit in the character of a nuisance : you can 
never be fully on your guard against his visits, and one is destroyed 
only to make room for another. Nooses placed in the paths he is 
known to frequent are recommended by some. 

The Eabbit commits but little mischief amongst the green crops 
in comparison with its ravages amongst young trees, and growing 
plants ; and they may be prevented from injuring these by a very 
simple process. Mix common coal tar with equal portions of cow- 
dung and lime, and with a brush smear the stems to the height of 



QUADRUPEDS. 25 

about thirty inches from the ground. The repetition of this treat- 
ment annually will effectually preserve the trees from their attacks, 
while the numbers of the rabbits must, of course, be kept within 
proper bounds by shooting or ferreting. There are also different 
descriptions of net used for taking rabbits, some account of which 
may prove useful. The fold-mis are so laid as to form an enclo- 
sure between the burrows and the usual place of feeding ; into 
these the rabbits are driven by dogs at night. The entrance is 
then closed, and in the morning the rabbits are secured. 

The spring-net is so constructed, as to close on pressure ; it is 
laid round a grain or hay-stack, and numbers will be thus taken. 
The best mode of taking rabbits is by means of the trap. For this 
purpose dig a pit in the run most commonly frequented, and have 
it considerably wider at the bottom than at the top ; across this lay 
a board, so nicely balanced upon a central pin, that the weight of 
the rabbit is sufficient to weigh it down at the extremity, while, at 
the same time, that weight removed, the board will resume its 
former position. Xumbers will be taken by this method. It may 
be useful to remark that a rabbit is very tenacious of life, and that 
it will frequently, if shot in the rear, succeed in making its escape ; 
in shooting them, aim, therefore, always for the head ; if there be 
an earth near, and it be only struck behind, it will be sure to escape 
into it, and perish and rot uselessly in its burrow. 

The Hare. — This is the true name, but the animal is frequently 
in America called the rabbit. 

In various parts of the Union the American hare is exceed- 
ingly common, and large numbers are annually destroyed for 
the sake of their flesh and fur. 

The timidity and defencelessness characteristic of the genus, are 
well illustrated in this species, which has no protection against its 
numerous enemies, and can escape by flight alone. Its peculiar 
color must, however, minister to its safety, as it is so similar to the 
general color of the soil as to require a close attention to distinguish 
the animal, which is usually passed without being observed by 
such as are not especially in search of it. Yet the swiftness and 
other natural advantages of the hare, insufficient to secure it from 
the artifices of man, or from being preyed upon by various beasts 
and birds, would not prevent the species from soon being extin- 
guished, were it not for its remarkable fecundity. 

During the day-time the hare remains crouched within its form, 
which is a mere space of the size of the animal, upon the surface 
2 



26 



THE PESTS OF THE FAEM. 



of the ground, cleared of grass, and sheltered by some over-arching 
plant ; or else its habitation is in the hollowed trunk of a tree, or 
under a collection of stones, &c. 

It is commonly at the earliest dawn, while the dew-drops still glit- 
ter on the herbage, or when the fresh verdure is concealed beneath a 
mantle of glistening frost, that the timorous hare ventures forth in 
quest of food, or courses undisturbed over the plains. Occasion- 
ally during the day, in retired and little frequented parts of the 




THE HARE. 

country, an individual is seen to scud from the path, where it has 
been basking in the sun ; but the best time for studying the 
habits of the animal is during moon-light nights, when the hare 
is to be seen sporting with its companions in unrestrained gambols, 
frisking with delighted eagerness around its mate, or busily engag- 
ed in cropping its food. On such occasions the turnip and cab- 
bage fields suffer severely, where these animals are numerous, 
though in general they are not productive of serious injury. 
However, when food is scarce, they do much mischief to the far- 
mers, by destroying the bark on the young trees in the nurseries, 
and by cutting valuable plants. 

The hare is not hunted in this country as in Europe, but is gen- 
erally roused by a dog, and shot, or is caught in various snares 
and traps. In its movements our hare closely resembles the com- 
mon hare of Europe, bounding along with great celerity, and would 
no doubt, when pursued, resort to the artifices of doubling, &c, 



QUADRUPEDS. 27 

so well known to be used by the European animal. The Ameri- 
can hare breeds several times during the year, and in the southern 
states even during the winter months, having from two to four or 
six at a litter. 

In summer dress the American hare is dark brown on the upper 
part of its head, a lighter brown on the sides, and of an ash color 
below. The ears are wide and edged with white, tipped with 
brown, and very dark on their back parts ; their sides approach to 
an ash color. The inside of the neck is slightly ferruginous ; the 
belly and the tail are small, dark above, and white below, having 
the inferior surface turned up. The hind legs are covered with 
more white than dark hairs, and both fore and hind feet have sharp 
pointed, narrow, and nearly straight nails. 

In winter the fur is nearly twice the length of what it is in 
summer, and is altogether, or very nearly, white. The weight of 
the animal is about seven pounds. 

This species is about fourteen inches in length. The hind lees 
are ten inches long, by which circumstance it is most strongly dis- 
tinguished from the common rabbit of Europe. 

The use of coal tar, as described in reference to the rabbit, will 
be found equally efficacious in preserving trees from the attacks of 
this animal, and the painting of gate-posts and palings of a white 
color at intervals, will, to a great degree, scare them from the 
more valuable crops. Hares are to be destroyed by the gun, by 
snares, traps, nets, &c. 

The Fox. — The Fox is a serious pest of the farm ; and though 
of service in the destruction of other pests, yet his depredations far 
exceed his usefulness in the destruction of rabbits, hares, mice, 
moles, etc. 

There are several varieties of foxes. Those which are mainly 
farm depredators are the Red Fox and the Gray Fox. 

The red fox is found throughout North America, and is the 
species which frequently has been thought identical with the com- 
mon fox of Europe, to which it bears a resemblance sufficiently 
striking to mislead an incidental observer. But by the fineness of 
its fur, its liveliness of color, length of limbs and slenderness of 
body, as well as the form of its skull, it is obviously distinguished. 

Red foxes are very numerous in the middle and southern states 
of the Union, and are everywhere notorious depredators on the 
poultry-yards. Their haunts are most commonly in exceedingly 
dense thickets, where they can scarcely be followed, even by dogs. 



28 



THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 



Like all his kindred species, the red fox is distinguished by the 
--ion of keen senses and great sagacity or craftiness, which 
enables him almost to hid defiance to traps, while his strength and 
swiftness of toot render it extremely difficult to capture him in the 
chase. Once fairly roused by the hounds, this animal dashes off 
with great speed, and soon far outstrips pursuit, and did he not 
lose the advantage of his celerity by remitting his efforts, might 
soon render the exertions of the sportsman nugatory. But the 



^ 

s 



^;^>S2|| 




THE FOX. 



persevering hounds again and again drive him to his utmost speed, 
and eventually wear him down, though not until a wide extent of 
country has been traversed, and huntsmen, horses and dogs have 
suffered severely from fatigue. 

The general color of this fox when in full summer pelage, is 
bright ferruginous on the head, back and sides, but less brilliant 
towards the tail. Beneath the chin it is white, while the throat 
and neck are a dark gray, which color is continued along the an- 
terior part of the belly in a narrower stripe that passes along the 
breast. The under parts of the body towards the tail are very 
pale red ; and the anterior parts of the fore legs and feet, 
as well as the fronts of the inferior part of the hind legs, are 



QUADRUPEDS. 29 

black. The tail is very bushy, but less ferruginous than the body, 
the hairs being mostly terminated with black, which is more ob- 
vious toward the extremity than at the origin of the member, giv- 
ing the whole a dark appearance. A few of the hairs are lighter 
at the end of the tail, but not sufficiently to allow us to state that 
it is tipped with white. 

In summer the fur of the red fox is long, fine, brilliant in color, 
and lustrous over the whole body. In winter its length and denss- 
ness is considerably increased. The red fox is nearly two feet 
long and about eighteen inches high : the tail is about sixteen 
inches long. The peltry is of considerable value, and employed in 
various ways by the manufacturers. 

The gray fox is very common throughout this country, and is 
found more immediately in the vicinity of human habitations than 
either of the other species. It is pursued by our sportsmen with 
more pleasure than the red fox, because it does not immediately for- 
sake its haunts and run for miles in one direction, but, after 
various doublings, is generally killed near the place Avhence it first 
started. 

The gray fox, like all the species we described, exhibits con- 
siderable differences of color at different ages and in different states 
of pelage. The length of the head and body is about twenty -four, 
and of the tail eleven inches. The general color of the animal is 
grizzly, becoming gradually darker from the fore shoulders to the 
posterior parts of the back, produced by the intermixture of ful- 
vous hairs with those constituting the mass of the pelage, which 
.are thus colored ; near the body the hair is rather plumbeous, then 
yellowish, then white, and then uniformly tipped with lustrous 
black. The front, from the top of the head to the edge of the 
orbits, is gray, while the rest of the face, from the internal angle 
of the eye to within half an inch of the extremity of the snout, is 
blackish ; at the extremity on each side of the granulated black 
tip of the nose it is of a yellowish white. A fine line of black 
tipped hairs extends upwards and outwards, from half an inch be- 
low the internal angle of the eyes until it is intersected by a simi- 
lar black line about half an inch beyond the external angle of the 
eye, thus forming a very acute triangle, whose base is on the side 
of the face. This blackish gray triangle, joined to the peculiar 
sharpness of the face, and the line produced by the black whiskers 
on the sides of the nose, singularly increase the appearance of sly- 
ness and cunning expressed in the physiognomy of this animal. 



SO THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

The face below this triangle is white, and the latter color is con- 
tinued semicircularly upon the upper part of the throat. 

The under jaw is blackish, this color extending along the line of 
the mouth, and passing about half an inch beyond the junction of 
the lips at the angle. The inner surface of the ears is clothed with 
short light yellowish hair ; their tips on the outside are blackish 
grav, and the whole of the rest of their posterior surface is yellow, 
which color descends encircling the neck, and is the only color on 
the anterior parts, with the exception of a white spot on the 
breast. The inferior parts of the body are white, tinted slightly in 
some individuals with faint reddish brown. The tail is thick and 
bushy, and the fur on the upper side is pale yellow, slightly tipped 
with black ; the under parts are rust colored, and the end entirely 
black. 

The most common method of destroying foxes is by hounds and 
the gun. If near his burrow, to avoid the dogs, he will take to 
the earth, and has then to be dug out ; he will sometimes ascend 
an inclined tree, and is then to be shot or the tree felled, when 
the dogs will dispatch him. He may be taken by traps and snares, 
but of these he is very wary. The most easy means are poi- 
soned meats, prepared and used as pointed out for the destruc- 
tion of wolves. 

"Wolves. — There are several varieties of wolves, viz. :— The 
Common Wolf, — the Prairie or Barkixg- W t olf, — the Dusky 
W t olf — and the Black Wolf. The common, prairie, and black 
ones are those only which are pests of the farm. In all new set- 
tlements, and in the prairie region of our country, these species are 
dangerous enemies to the domestic animals of the farmer. 

The Common W 7 olf. — Wdien the aboriginal Americans first 
gave place to European adventurers, and the forests which had 
flourished for ages undisturbed, began to fall before the unsparing 
axe, the vicinity of the settler's lonely cabin resounded with the 
nightly howlings of wolves, attracted by the refuse provision usu- 
ally to be found there, or by a disposition to prey upon the 
domestic animals. During wdnter, when food was most difficult to 
be procured, packs of these famished and ferocious creatures were 
ever at hand, to run down and destroy any domestic animal found 
wandering beyond the enclosures, which their individual or com- 
bined efforts could overcome, and the boldest house-dog could not 
venture far from the door of his master without incurring the risk 
o1 being killed and devoured. The common wolf was then to be 



QUADRUPEDS. 31 

found in considerable numbers throughout a great extent, if not 

the whole of North America ; at present it is only known as a re- 
sident of the remote wooded and mountainous districts where man 
has just commenced to fix his abode. 

The common wolf of America is considered to be the same 
species as the wolf of Europe, and in regard to habits and man- 
ners, gives every evidence of such an identity. Like all the wild 
animals of the dog kind, they unite in packs to hunt down animals 
which individually they could not master, and during their sexual 
season, engage in the most furious combats with each other for the 
possession of the females. 

The common wolf is possessed of great strength and fierceness, 
and is what is generally called a cruel animal, tearing the throat of 
his victim, drinking its blood, and rending it open for the purpose 
of devouring its entrails. The great strength of its jaws enables 
the wolf to carry off with facility an animal nearly as large as 
itself, and makes its bite exceedingly severe and dangerous. Aged 
or wounded animals, as well as the hinds and fawns of the deer, 
sheep, lambs, calves and pigs, are killed by these wolves, and the 
horse is said to be the only domestic animal which can resist them 
with success. They gorge with much greediness upon all sorts of 
carrion, which they can discover at great distances ; and where 
such provision is to be obtained in great- plenty, they become very 
fat and lose their ferocity to a sino-ular degree. 

When this wolf has been caught in a trap, and is approached 
by man, it is remarked to be exceedingly cowardly, and occasion- 
ally suffers itself to be beaten without offering the slightest resist- 
ance. If a dog be set upon a wolf thus captured, the assault is 
patiently endured so long as his master is present ; but as soon as 
the wolf is freed from the restraint imposed by the presence of his 
captor, he springs upon and throttles the dog, which, if not speed- 
ily assisted, pays the forfeit of his presumption and temerity with 
his life. The voice of this wolf is a prolonged and melancholy 
howl, which, when uttered by numerous individuals at once, is dis- 
cordant and frightful. The period of gestation, (fee, in this species- 
is in every respect analogous to that of the common dog. 

Animals exposed to so much suffering from hunger, we may 
readily believe, are in no way exclusive in their preference of food, 
and these wolves may be said to feed on every creature they can 
master, or on the remains of any animal left by the natives. 

The common wolf is about four feet and a half in length, 



32 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

including the tail, which is rather more than a foot long. The 
height, before, is two feet three inches ; behind, it is two feet four 
inches. The tail is bushy and bending downwards, having upon 
it hairs upwards of live inches in length. 

The general color of this wolf is reddish brown, intermixed with 
ferruginous and black ; but a great variety is to be observed in the 
coloring of the wolf, as found in the northern, middle, and southern 
regions, exhibiting gradations from grizzly white to pure black. 

The Prairie or Barking Wolf. — This wolf frequents the 
prairies or natural meadows of the west, where troops or packs 
containing a considerable number of individuals are frequently seen 
following in the train of a herd of buffalo or deer, for the pur- 
pose of preying on such as may die from disease, or in conse- 
quence of wounds inflicted by the hunters. At night they also 
approach the encampments of travelers, whom they sometimes 
follow for the sake of the carcasses of animals which are relin- 
quished, and by their discordant howlings, close to the tents, effec- 
tually banish sleep from those wdio are unaccustomed to their 
noise. According to Say's observation they are more numerous 
than any of the other wolves which are found in North America. 

The barking wolf closely resembles the domestic dog of the In- 
dians in appearance, and is remarkably active and intelligent. 
Like the common wolf, the individuals of this species frequently 
unite to run down deer, or a buffalo calf which has been separated 
from the herd, though it requires the fullest exercise of all their 
speed, sagacity and strength, to succeed in this chase. They are 
very often exposed to great distress from w^ant of food, and in this 
state of famine are under the necessity of filling their stomachs 
with wild plums, or other fruits no less indigestible, in order to 
allay in some degree the inordinate sensations of hunger. 

This wolf barks in such a manner as to resemble the domestic 
dog very distinctly ; the first two or three notes are not to be dis- 
tinguished from those produced by a small terrier, but differs from 
that of the dog by adding to these sounds a lengthened scream. 

The barking wolf is about three feet and a-half in length, of 
which the tail forms thirteen and a-half inches, exclusive of the 
hair at its extremity. The ears are four inches long from the top 
of the head, and the distance from the anterior canthus of the eye 
to the end of the snout is three inches and three-fourths. 

The general color of the barking wolf is cinerious, or gray inter- 
mingled with black, and dull fulvous or cinnamon above. The 



QUADRUPEDS. 



83 



hair is of a dusky lead color at base, of a dull cinnamon in the 
middle of its length, and gray or black at tip, being-of greater 
length along the middle of the back and other parts of the body. 
The ears are erect and rounded at tip, having the hair on the back 
part of a cinnamon color, and dark plumbeous at base, while that 
on the inside is gray. 











THE BLACK WOLF. 

The American Black \Volf. — The American black wolf, al- 
though less common than the other varieties, is considered more 
dangerous and ferocious, sometimes making sad havoc among 
sheep and lambs. It is found more or less abundant throughout 
the wooded districts of the Canada?, the northern states, and of the 
entire AlWhanv range, to their termination in G-eoroia. 

The length of this animal is about five feet eight inches, of 
which the tail occupies one foot eight inches ; the height at the 
fore shoulders about two feet three inches, and the girth of the 
body about two feet seven inches. The general color of the body 
is brownish-black, somewhat mottled with darker shades ; the 
belly much lighter, with a broad stripe of black, undefined at the 
edges, running up the breast ; the back blackish, very slightly 
mottled with white, caused by the intermixture of different hairs ; 
the body is covered with a soft, thick down, light gray at the roots, 
3* 



S-i THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

md brownish gray at the end ; besides this fur, there is likewise a 
longer hair which is the general color of the animal; this hair on 
the back is white at the roots, then black, then pure white, then 
black again at the tip, giving a speckled appearance to the back. 
The tail is large and bushy ; the hair long, loose, and nearly black, 
as also is the throat and breast. The feet and legs are black ; the 
hair on the front of the legs close, bristly, and shining. The head 
is black with the face covered with short, close hair ; the nose 
pointed, small, and black ; the ears short, pointed, and upright. 

The black wolf is much stronger than a dog of the same size, 
and his mode of biting is very different from that of a dog. In- 
stead of retaining his hold, like a dog, when he seizes his enemy, 
he bites by repeated snaps, given, however, with great force, often 
lacerating the flesh a foot or more to each jerk. Like all carnivo- 
rous animals, his thirst for blood is irresistible, and he often kills 
his victim without devouring the carcass, drinking the blood, the 
only part agreeable to his palate. When pressed with hunger, he 
destroys every other creature he can master, and it is believed 
that, during the year, he consumes at least thirty times his own 
weight of animal food, which, in cultivated countries, renders his 
injurious character more apparent, from the large number of do- 
mestic animals he necessarily must slay. In winter, when the 
ground is covered with snow, and he finds his prey to be scarce in 
his natural haunts, he becomes exceedingly bold, intrudes into the 
sheep-folds and pig-sties, and even into villages or populous towns, 
in quest of food. 

The ordinary method of capturing wolves is in winter, by means 
of a steel trap. It has been found, however, that the most success- 
ful method of destroying them is, to drug small sausages with 
strychnine, or nux vomica, and hang them on the boughs of trees, 
at such a height, that the wolf must leap to obtain them. Under 
these circumstances the animal swallows the bait at once, and has 
not time to find out that it contains any suspicious admixture, 
which he often does, if the poison be applied to the carcasses of 
sheep, horses, &c. Another mode of poisoning them is this : The 
kernels of nux vomica are grated or powdered, then mixed up with 
three or four times their bulk of fat or grease, and honey (wolves 
are very fond of the latter), and made into balls about as large as 
a hen's egg. These are placed in the woods, covered with a piece 
of flesh or tripe, and some offal is hung on a tree near the spot, to 



QUADRUPEDS. 35 

attract the wolves by its scent. The poison once taken is sure to 
prove fatal, before the animals can proceed many rods. 

The common and the black wolf are usually destroyed in two 
ways. When annoyed by them the farmers frequently unite, and 
by a general battue destroy them. This is effected, by forming 
about the observed retreats of the wolf, a large circle of two or 
three miles in diameter. The hunters gradually close in on the 
point of hiding, and hedge the wolf in, when he is easily de- 
stroyed. 

A frequent means of destruction is a deep pit. This is dug so 
deep as to prevent the wolf from jumping out, once he is in. The 
pit is baited with a dead sheep or animal or carrion. The wolf 
jumps down for his prey, gorges himself, and then seeks to 
escape, but in vain. His bowlings soon inform the farmer or 
hunter of his imprisonment, when the pit is visited and the pri- 
soner killed. 

The prairie wolf is too sagacious to be caught by traps. He 
may be poisoned like the other varieties. He is frequently shot. 
Occupying the open prairie he is good game for the grayhound, 
and is often chased by him. Once the grayhound sights him, if in 
the open prairie, the wolf must be near the cover of a wood, or he 
has not the least chance of an escape. Being small, a brace of 
grayhounds soon dispatch him. He may be taken in pits, but is 
very shy of them. 

The Woodchuck. — This animal is the ardomys monax or mar- 
mot. Among the country people it bears the name of woodchuck 
and ground-hog, the latter being expressive of its habits of bur- 
rowing and peculiar voracity. 

The woodchuck is the cause of great injury, especially to the 
farmers eno-a^ed in the cultivation of clover, as their numbers be- 
come very considerable, and the quantity of herbage they consume 
is really surprising. They are more capable of doing mischief 
from the circumstance of their extreme vigilance and acute sense 
of hearing, as well as from the security afforded them by their ex- 
tensive subterranean dwellings. 

When about to make an inroad upon a clover-field, all the 
woodchucks resident in the vicinity quietly and cautiously steal 
toward the spot, being favored in their march by their gray color, 
which is not easily distinguished. While the main body are 
actively engaged in cropping the clover-heads and gorging their 
ample cheek-pouches, one or more individuals remain at some dis- 



36 THE TESTS OF THE FARM. 

tanee in the rear as sentinels. These watchmen sit erect, with 
their tore-paws held close to their breast, and their heads slightly 
inclined to catch every sound which may move the air. Their ex- 
treme sensibility of ear enables them to distinguish the approach 
of an enemy long before he is sufficiently near to be dangerous, 
and the instant the sentinel takes alarm he gives a clear shrill 
whistle, which immediately disperses the troop in every direction, 
and they speedily take refuge in their deepest caves. The time at 
which such incursions are made is generally about mid-day, when 




8L 



THE WOOD CHUCK. 

they are less liable to be interrupted than at any other period, 
either by human or brute enemies. 

The habitations of the woodchuck are formed by burrowing 
into banks, the sides of hills, or other similar situations, by which 
the access of water is prevented. In forming the burrow, where 
the ground is soft, the fore-paws are the principal agents ; the 
strength of the animal's fore limbs is very great. Where the soil, 
is hard and compact, the long cutting teeth are very freely and effi- 
ciently employed, and we have been surprised to see large stones 
and lumps of hardened clay dug out in this way. 

The burrows extend to great distances under ground, and ter- 
minate in various chambers, according to the number of inhabit- 
ants. In these, very comfortable beds are made by the wood- 
chuck, of dry leaves, grass, or any soft dry rubbish to be collected. 
It is really surprising to see the vast quantity of such material an 
individual will cram into his mouth to carry off for this purpose. 
He firsts grasps with the teeth as much as he possibly can ; then 
sitting erect, with both fore-paws he stuffs the mass projecting on 
each side deeper into the mouth, and having arranged it satisfac- 
torily, takes up successive portions, which are treated in like man- 



QUADRUPEDS. 37 

ner ; during the whole time the head is moved up and down to 
aid in filling the mouth to the very utmost. This is repeated until 
every fragment at hand is collected, and the whole transferred to 
the sleeping apartment, into which the woodchuck retires towards 
the decline of the day, and remains there until the morning is far 
advanced. At some seasons of the year the woodchuck is seen 
out on moonlight nights at a considerable distance from the bur- 
row, either in search of better pasture or looking for a mate ; on 
such occasions, when attacked by a dog, the woodchuck makes 
battle, and when the individual is full-grown, his bite is very se- 
vere*. The teeth of the dog give him vast superiority in the com- 
bat, as when once he seizes, he is sure of the hold until the parts 
bitten are torn ■ through, while the woodchuck can merely pinch 
his foreteeth together, and must renew his attempts very frequent- 
ly. The fight is also soon ended by the dog seizing the wood- 
chuck by the small of the back, and crushing the spine so as to 
disable his antagonist effectually. 

The woodchuck is to be destroyed by dogs. The most of form 
dogs are very fond of pursuing them. If the woodchuck escape 
to his hole, the dog will readily dig him out. But a speedier way 
is to smoke his hole, and drive him out, when the dog readily 
catches and destroys him. He is easily shot, and may be handily 
taken in traps. 

The Raccoon. — There are few parts of the American continent 
in which the Racoon has not, at some period, been found native, 
from the borders of Nootka Sound to the forests of Mexico, and 
still more southern regions. 

Were we to form an opinion of this animal's character solely 
from external appearances, the mingled expression of sagacity and 
innocence exhibited in his aspect, his personal neatness and gentle 
movements, might all incline us to believe that he possessed a 
guileless and placable disposition. But in this, as in most other 
cases, where judgments are formed without sufficient examination, 
we should be in error, and find, that to the capricious mischievous- 
ness of the monkey, the racoon adds a blood-thirsty and vindictive 
spirit, peculiarly his own. In the wild state, this sanguinary appe- 
tite frequently leads to his own destruction, which his nocturnal 
habits might otherwise avert ; but as he slaughters the tenants of 
the poultry-yard with indiscriminate ferocity, the vengeance of the 
plundered farmer speedily retaliates on him the death so liberally 
dealt among the feathered victims. This destructive propensity of 



88 THE PESTS OF TIIE FARM. 

the raccoon is more remarkable, when we observe that his teetli are 
not unsuited for eating Bruits. When he destroys wild or domes- 
ticated birds, he puts to death a great number without consuming 
any part of them, except the head, or the blood which is sucked 

from the neck. 

Being peculiarly fond of sweet substances, the raccoon is occa- 
sionally very destructive to plantations of sugar cane, and of 
Indian corn. While the ear of the Indian corn is still young, soft 
and tender, " in the milk," it is very sweet, and is then eagerly 
sought by the raccoons ; troops of them frequently enter fields of 
maize, and in one night commit extensive depredations, both* by 
the quantity of grain they consume, and from the number of stalks 
they break down by their weight. 

The raccoon is an excellent climber, and his strong sharp claws 
effectually secure him from being shaken off the branches of trees. 
In fact, so tenaciously does this animal hold to any surface upon 
which it can make an impression with its claws, that it requires a 
considerable exertion of a man's strength to drag him off ; and as 
long as even a single foot remains attached, he continues to cling 
with great force. 

The conical form of the head, and the very pointed and flexible 
character of the muzzle or snout, are of great importance in aiding 
the raccoon to examine every vacuity and crevice to which he 
gains access ; nor does he neglect any opportunity of using his 
natural advantages, but explores every nook and cranny, with the 
most persevering diligence and attention, greedily feeding on spi- 
ders, worms, or other insects which are discovered by the scrutiny. 
Where the opening is too small to give admittance to his nose, he 
employs his fore-paws, and shifts his position or turns his paws 
sidewise, in order to facilitate their introduction and effect his pur- 
pose. This disposition to feed on the grubs or larvae of insects 
must render this animal of considerable utility in forest lands, in 
consequence of the great numbers of injurious and destructive in- 
sects he consumes. He is also said to catch frogs with consider- 
able address, by slily creeping up, and. then springing on them, so 
as to grasp them with both paws. 

The size of the raccoon varies with the age and sex of the indi- 
vidual. A full grown male may be stated to have the body a 
foot, or a few inches more, in length ; the highest part of the back 
is about a foot from the ground, while the highest part of the 
shoulder is ten inches. The head is about five, and the tail rather 



QUADRUPEDS. 39 

more than eight inches long. The female is larger than the male 
in every respect, at least such is the fact in relation to the raccoons 
now in my possession, which, however, have not yet attained their 
full growth. They are of the same age, and the female is strongly 
distinguished from the male by the black markings on all parts of 
the body being more purely black, and the fur and hair longer, 
thicker, and more glossy than that of the male ; these peculiarities, 
in addition to her greater size, uniformly lead strangers to suppose 
this individual to be the male, instead of the female. The pel age 
of the male is not only less purely black at the extremities of the 
hairs, but there is a much greater intermixture of fawn-colored 
hair than in the female, giving more of a rusty appearance to the 
whole surface of his body. A young raccoon of thirty days old 
is about the size of a common cat of a year old, though the greater 
length of its legs and the bushiness of its pelage, make it at first 
sight appear much larger. 

The general color of the body is a blackish gray, which is paler 
on the urjder part of the body, and has over considerable part of 
the neck, back and sides, some fawn or light rust-colored hair in- 
termixed. The general gray color is owing to the manner in 
which the hairs are alternately ringed with black and dingy 
white. The tail is very thickly covered with hair, and is marked 
by Hve or six black rings round it, on a yellowish white ground. 

The head, which is about five inches long, is very triangular, 
and from its pointed snout reminds us of the aspect of the fox : 
the snout terminates in a smooth and shining black membrane, 
through which the nostrils open, having the slit to rise slightly at 
the sides. The nose is prolonged considerably beyond the upper 
jaw, and this, together with its great flexibility, gives the animal 
great advantages in exploring little crevices and crannies for in- 
sects, &c. The pupils of the eyes are round ; the ears are oval, or 
rather elliptic, and of a yellowish white color on their extremities 
and anterior edges. The face is whitish, in front, but there is a 
black patch surrounding the eye, that descends entirely to the 
lower jaw, over the posterior part of which it is diffused, and a 
black line running from the top of the head down the middle 
of the face, ending below the eyes. The rest of the hair between 
the eyes, the ears, and eye-brows, is almost entirely white, and di- 
' jcted downwards. The hair on the muzzle is usually very short; 
on the feet also, and on one-half of the legs ; the short hair of the 



•iO THE PKSTS OF THE FARM. 

feet and legs is of a dirty whitish color. The whiskers on the 
upper lip are long and strong. 

All the feet have live toes each, terminated by strong curved 
and pointed claws ; and each loot is furnished with Hvq thick and 
very elastic tubercles beneath. The first toe or thumb of the fore- 
foot is the shortest of all ; the little or external finger is next in 
length, and then the fore-finger ; the remaining two are equal. 
The first tubercle, which is a very strong one, is situated near the 
wrist ; the second is at the base of the little finger ; the third at 
the root of the inner finger or thumb ; the fourth opposite the 
second digit, and the fifth opposite the two longest. The hind feet 
are throughout similar, except that the first tubercle is farther dis- 
tant from the heel. 

The pelage of the raccoon is subject to considerable variations 
of color at different periods of life, and in different individuals. 
The rings on the tail and the patches around the eyes are, how- 
ever, uniform and constant. The tail of the raccoon is not affected 
by the coldest weather ; bence tbis quadruped is never known to 
gnaw his tail, as has been observed of animals closely allied to it 
in configuration and habits. 

As the habits of the raccoon are nocturnal he is not easily shot. 
He may readily be taken by snares and traps. He is frequently 
hunted at night in August and September, during the period of 
green corn, with dogs. He escapes to a tree, which is cut down, 
and the dogs seize him as he comes to the ground. 

The Black Bear. — There are three varieties of the Bear 
in America, viz. : the American or Black Bear, the Grizzly Bear, 
and the Polar Bear. The Black Bear alone is a pest of the farm. 

This bear is found throughout North America, from the shores 
of the Arctic Sea to its most southern extremity. 

The black bear, under ordinary circumstances, is not remarkably 
ferocious, nor is he in the habit of attacking man without provoca- 
tion. But when wounded, he turns on the aggressor with great 
fury, and defends himself desperately. This disposition is more 
fully manifested during the coupling season, because the males are 
then highly excited, and are not so inert and clumsy as in the 
autumn, when they are exceedingly fat. 

When the winters are severe at the north, and they find a diffi- 
culty of procuring food, they travel to the southern regions in 
considerable bodies. 

The sight and hearing appear to be the most acute of the 



QUADRUPEDS. 



41 



senses m this bear. Although he kills many small animals, he 
does not follow them by the smell. When he walks, his gait is 
heavy and apparently awkward, and when running is not much 
less so, but his strength of body enables him to inove with 
considerable celerity, and for a long time. 

The females bring forth their young in the winter time, and ex- 
hibit for them a degree of attachment which nothing can surpass. 
They usually have two cubs, which are suckled until they are well 
grown. The fondness existing between the mother and cubs 
seems to be mutual, and no danger can separate her from them, 
nor any thin o; short of death itself, induce her to forsake them. 




THE BEAR. 

Black bears are still numerous in the wooded and thinly settled 
parts of the States of the Union, and where their favorite food is 
plenteous they grow to a great size, and afford a large quantity 
of oil. 

The food of this animal is principally grapes, plums, whortle- 
berries, persimmons, bramble and other berries ; they are also par- 
ticularly fond of the acorns of the live oak. They are also very 
fond of the different kinds of nuts and esculent roots, and often 
ramble to great distances from their dens in search of whort'eber- 
ries, mulberries, and indeed all sweet flavored and spicy fruits : 
birds, small quadrupeds, insects, and eggs, are also devoured by 



42 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

them whenever they can be obtained. They are occasionally very 
injurious to the frontier settlers, by their incursions in search of 
potatoes and young corn, both of which are favorite articles of 
food ; their claws enable them to do great mischief in potato 
grounds, as they can dig up a large number in a very short time, 
and where the bears are numerous their ravages are occasionally 
very extensive. 

In the north, the flesh of the black bear is fittest for the table 
after the middle of July, when the berries begin to ripen, though 
some berries impart a very disagreeable flavor to their flesh. They 
remain in good condition until the following January or February ; 
late in the spring they are much emaciated, and their flesh is dry 
and disagreeable hi consequence of their long fasting through the 
season of their torpidity. Their flesh is also rendered rank and 
disagreeable by feeding on herring spawn, which they seek and 
devour with greediness, whenever it is to be obtained. The south- 
ern Indians kill great numbers of these bears at all seasons of the 
year, but no inducement can be offered to prevent them from 
singeing off the hair of all that are in good condition for eating, 
as the flesh of the bear is as much spoiled by skinning as pork 
would be ; the skins these people bring the traders are conse- 
quently only such as are obtained from bears that are too poor to 
be eaten. 

The black bear is in fact very indiscriminate in his feeding ; and 
though suited by nature for the almost exclusive consumption of 
vegetable food, yet refuses scarcely anything when pressed by hun- 
ger. He is moreover voracious as well as indiscriminate in satisfy- 
ing his appetite, and frequently gorges until his stomach loathes 
and rejects its contents. He seeks, with great assiduity, for the 
larvae or grub- worms of various insects, and exerts a surprising de- 
gree of strength in turning over large trunks of fallen trees, 
wmich, whenever sufficiently decayed to admit of it, he tears to 
pieces in search of worms. 

The usual residence of the black bear is in the most remote and 
secluded parts of the forest, where his den is either in the hollow 
of some decayed tree, or in a cavern formed among the rocks. 
To this place he retires when his hunger is appeased, and in the 
winter he lies coiled up there during the long period of his torpid- 
ity. The female of the black bear, during the period of gesta- 
tion, which commences in the month of October, and continues for 



QUADRUPEDS. 43 

about one hundred and twelve days, leads a retired and concealed 
life. 

In the northern parts of this continent, the subterraneous re- 
treats of the black bear may be readily discovered by the mist 
which uniformly hangs about the entrance of the den, as the ani- 
mal's heat and breathing prevent the mouth of the cave from 
being entirely closed, however deep the snow may be. As the 
black bear usually retires to his winter quarters before any quan- 
tity of snow has fallen, and does not again venture abroad, if un- 
disturbed, until the end of March or beginning of April, he must 
consequently spend at least four months in a state of torpidity, 
and without obtaining food. It is therefore not surprising that, 
although the bear goes into his winter quarters in a state of ex- 
cessive fatness, he should come out in the spring of the year ex- 
tremely emaciated. 

The northern Indians occasionally destroy the bear by blocking 
up the mouth of the cave with logs of wood, and then breaking- 
open the top of it, kill the animal with a spear or gun. Some- 
times they throw a noose round his neck, draw him up to the top 
of the hole, and kill him with a hatchet. 

The black bear is occasionally captured in large and strong steel 
traps, well secured by a chain to a neighboring tree, and laid in a 
path over which a freshly-killed carcass has been drawn along, — 
or he is taken in a noose suspended from a strong sapling. A 
common mode of hunting this animal is to follow him with two or 
three well-trained dogs. When he finds that he is pursued, he 
generally pushes directly forward for eight or ten miles, or farther, 
if not overtaken ; as the dogs come up with him their repeated at- 
tacks cause him to turn for the purpose of striking at them, and if 
they do not dexterously avoid his blows they will be killed, as he 
strikes with very great force. To avoid the vexation produced by 
the dogs, he mounts a tree, ascending for twenty or thirty feet, but 
is allowed very little rest, for the hunter low approaching, he 
throws himself to the earth, and hurries onwards, being still pur- 
sued and worried by the dogs. Again he is obliged to take refuge 
in a tree, and sometimes climbs as near as possible to the top, en- 
deavoring to conceal himself among the foliage. The hunter now 
strikes against the trunk of the tree, as if eno-ao-ed in cuttino- it 
down ; the poor bear soon betrays his hiding-place, and slipping 
to the end of the longest branch, gathers his body up, and drops 
from a vast height to the ground, whence he often appears to re- 



44 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

bound for several foot, and then runs off as actively as he can. 
At length, worn out by frequently repeated exertions to escape, tie 

is finally shot, while attempting to screen himself by aid of the 

trunk of a tree, or while employed in resisting the attacks of the 
dogs. 

Among other modes of killing the black bear the Indians em- 
ploy a trap composed of logs, which, when the animal attempts to 
remove the bait, either falls on his body and kills him outright, or 
secures him until he is put to death by the proprietor of the snare. 

The black bear, like all the species of this genus, is very tena- 
cious of life, and seldom fails unless shot through the brain or 
heart. An experienced hunter never advances on a bear that has 
fallen, without first stopping to load his rifle, as the beast fre- 
quently recovers to a considerable degree, and w T ould then be a 
most dangerous adversary. The skull of the bear appears actually 
to be almost impenetrable, and a rifle ball, fired at a distance of 
ninety-six yards, has been flattened against it, without appearing 
to do any material injury to the bone. The best place to direct 
blows against the bear is upon his snout ; when struck elsewhere, 
his dense, wholly coat, thick hide and robust muscles, render ma- 
nual violence almost entirely unavailing. 

When the bear is merely wounded, it is very dangerous to at- 
tempt to kill him with such a weapon as a knife or tomahawk, or 
indeed anything which may bring one w r ithin his reach. In this 
way hunters and others have paid very dearly for their rashness, 
and barely escaped with their lives. 

The black bear, in common with other species of this genus, en- 
deavors to suffocate an adversary by violently hugging and compress- 
ing its chest. A man might end such a struggle in a few instants, 
if one hand be sufficiently at liberty to grasp the throat of the 
animal with the thumb and fingers, externally, just at the root of 
the tongue, as a slight degree of compression there will generally 
suffice to produce a spasm of the glottis, that will soon suffocate it 
beyond the power of offering resistance or doing injury. 

The black bear differs from other species of the genus by having 
the nose and forehead nearly on the same line, though the fore- 
head is slightly prominent. The palms of the hands and soles of 
the feet are very short, and the whole body is covered with long, 
shining, straight black hair, which is by no means harsh to the 
touch. The sides of the face are marked with fawn color, and a 
small spot of the same exists in some individuals in front of the 



QUADRUPEDS. 



45 



eye ; others have the muzzle of a clear light yellow, with a white 
line commencing on the root of the nose and reaching to each side 
of the angle of the mouth. This continues over the cheek to a 
large white space, mixed with a slight fawn color, covering the 
whole of the throat, whence a narrow Hue descends upon the 
breast. 




THE SQUIRREL, 

Squirrels. — There are several varieties of Squirrels. 

The Fox Squirrel is common in the southern States, and is not 
troublesome. 

The Cat Squirrel is found in great abundance throughout the 
oak and chesnut forests of this country, and is not to any extent a 
depredator. 

The Black Squirrel is very common, and at times very destruc- 
tive in the Indian corn fields. The black squirrel, in summer, is 
rather gray on the back and sides, though the whole color of the 
body is black, with some gray interspersed, and of a reddish 
brown on the under parts. In winter the color is a pure black all 
over the body. 

The Common Gray Squirrel. — This species, still exceedingly 



46 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

common throughout the United States, was once so excessively 
multiplied as to be a scourge to the inhabitants, not only consum- 
ing their grain, but exhausting the public treasury by the amount 
of premiums given for their destruction. 

The gray squirrel prefers the oak, hickory and chesnut woods, 
where it rinds a copious supply of nuts and mast, of which it pro- 
vides large hoards for the winter. Their nests are placed chiefly 
in tall oak trees at the forks of the branches ; these nests are very 
comfortable, being thickly covered and lined with dried leaves. 
During cold weather the squirrels seldom leave these snug re- 
treats, except for the purpose of visiting their store-houses, and 
obtaining a supply of provisions. It has been observed that the 
approach of uncommonly cold weather is foretold when these 
squirrels are seen out in unusual numbers, gathering a larger stock 
of provisions, lest their magazines should fail. This, however, is 
not an infallible sign, at least in vicinities where many hogs are al- 
lowed to roam at large, as these keen-nosed brutes are very expert 
at discovering the winter hoards of the squirrel, which they imme- 
diately appropriate to their own use. 

If the gray squirrels confined themselves to the diet afforded by 
the forest trees, the farmers would profit considerably thereby. 
But, having once tasted the sweetness of Indian corn and other 
cultivated grains, they leave acorns and such coarse fare to the 
hogs, while they invade the corn fields, and carry off and destroy 
a very large quantity. This species is remarkable among all our 
squirrels for its beauty and activity. 

The gray squirrel varies considerably in color, but is most com- 
monly of a fine bluish gray, mingled with a slight golden hue. 
This golden color is especially obvious on the head, along the sides, 
where the white hair of the belly approaches the gray of the sides, 
and on the anterior part of the fore and superior part of the hind 
feet, where it is very rich and deep. This mark on the hind feet 
is very permanent, and evident even in those varieties which differ 
most from the common color. There is one specimen in the Phi- 
ladelphia Museum of a light brownish red on all the superior parts 
of the body. 

The Common Red Squirrel, or Hudson's Bay Squirrel of 
Naturalists. — This beautiful species is very common in the north- 
ern and western parts of this country, and, where seldom dis- 
turbed, are so fearless as to allow themselves to be approached 
almost within reach. 



QUADRUPEDS. 47 

The common red squirrel is, perhaps, more remarkable for its 
neatness and beauty than any of its kindred species, which, in 
habits and manners, it closely resembles. It is between seven and 
eight inches long, having a tail five inches in length. Its whiskers 
are very long and black ; the superior parts of the body are of a 
reddish brown color, varying in intensity, and shaded with black. 
On the inferior parts the general color is a tarnished or yellowish 
white ; the under part of the head and front of the fore limbs are 
reddish brown, like the back ; the insides of the thighs are 
colored like the belly ; on each flank there is a distinctly marked 
black line, separating the colors of the back and belly. The tail is 
of a reddish brown color, and is very beautiful. 

The red squirrel is a great pest in orchards. He will frequently 
destroy a hundred pears in a day to get the seeds, which alone 
he eats. 

The Ground Squirrel (commonly called the Chipmunk, 
Hacky or Hackee, Ground, or Striped Squirrel). — Few persons 
have traveled without becoming acquainted with this pretty ani- 
mal, which, though very different in its general appearance from 
its kindred tenanting the lofty forest-trees, still approaches to them 
so closely in personal beauty and activity, as always to command 
the attention of the most incidental observer. 

This squirrel is most generally seen scudding along the lower 
rails of the common zi^-zag or " Virginia" fences, which afford 
him at once a pleasant and secure path, as in a few turns he finds 
a safe hiding-place behind the projecting angles, or enters his bur- 
row undiscovered. When no fence is near, or his retreat is cut off, 
after having been out in search of food, he becomes exceedingly 
alarmed, and runs up the nearest tree, uttering a very shrill cry or 
whistle, indicative of his distress, and it is in this situation that he 
is most frequently made captive by his persecuting enemies, the 
mischievous school-boys. 

The ground squirrel makes his burrow generally near the roots 
of trees, along the course of fences and old walls, or in banks ad- 
jacent to forests, whence he obtains his principal supplies of food. 
The burrows frequently extend to very considerable distances, 
having several galleries or lateral excavations, in which provisions 
are stored for winter use. The burrow has always two openings, 
which are usually far distant from each other ; it very rarely hap- 
pens that the animal is dug out, unless it be accidentally during 
the winter season. 



43 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

The ground squirrel is rather more than five inehes in length, 
from the nose to the root of the toil ; the last is about two inches 
and a half long*. The general color of the head and upper parts 
of the body is reddish brown, all the hairs on these parts being 
gray at base. The eyelids are whitish, and from the external 
angle of each eye a black line runs towards the ear, while on each 
cheek there is a reddish brown line. The short rouuded ears are 
covered with fine hairs, which are on the outside of a reddish 
brown color, and within of a whitish gray. The upper part of the 
neck, shoulders, and base of the hair on the back, are of a gray 
brown, mingled with whitish. 

On the back there are five longitudinal black bands, which are 
at their posterior parts bordered slightly with red. The middle 
one begins at the back of the head, the tw x o lateral ones on the 
shoulders ; they all terminate at the rump, whose color is reddish. 
On each side two white separate the lateral black bands. The 
lower part of the flanks and sides of the neck are of a paler 
red ; the exterior of the fore feet is of a grayish yellow ; the thighs 
and hind feet are red above. The upper lip, the chin, throat, 
belly, and internal face of the limbs are of a dirty brown. The 
tail is reddish at its base, blackish below, and has an edging of 
black. 

The ground squirrel is sadly injurious to corn or grain fields, 
just planted or sown, wdien the fields are near woods. The squir- 
rel digs up the grain, and renders planting or sowing again ne- 
cessary. 

The gun is the main means for the destruction of the various 
squirrels. 

RATS, MICE, AXD THEIR KIND. 

"We have hitherto been discussing subjects, presenting rather a 
doubtful aspect, as affording the possibility of the query arising as 
to the positive or actual title which they hold to rank amongst the 
"Pests " of " the Farm." The present article is designed to em- 
brace an inquiry into the character of a class of animals relative to 
which no possible mistake can exist, — a class of animals whose dep- 
redations are universally felt — animals noxious to all, and possessed 
of no single redeeming quality which can elicit the defence of any 
one advocate. As to extermination meaning extirpation, that is an 
end that, even w T ith the greatest assiduity on the part of man, it 
would be next to hopeless to expect to arrive at ; none will question 



QUADRUPEDS. 49 

the right which man, as the heaven-appointed lord of the creation, 
possesses to protect his property from the inroads of the invaders, 
and to check, by every means within his power, the extension of any 
race of animals, who, if they are to live, must live to his detriment, 
upon the fruit of his labor. Of all four-footed vermin, perhaps, 
rats and mice, with their varieties, are the greatest foes to the agri- 
culturist, nay, to man generally. It is, in short, but a choice be- 
tween their extermination and his ; for if suffered to increase in 
numbers, unchecked, the time would not be far distant when the 
entire globe would but suffice to furnish food for their rapacious 
appetites, to the exclusion of the human race, created by our Divine 
Maker himself its legitimate sovereign and lord. Sentimental 
theorists need not fear the extinction of this troublesome tribe ; let 
us proceed with all our vigor — let us call into exercise every re- 
source of human cunning, and we shall still find ourselves, to a 
great extent, baffled by these diminutive marauders, who, despite 
of all our efforts, continue to thrive, to multiply, to grow fat upon 
the products of our toil. The utmost that we can effect is to deci- 
mate their ranks ; we may diminish their numbers, but extirpate 
them — never ! I am far from blaming the poor creatures for their 
predatory habits. I am fully aware, that in following them, they 
do but follow certain instincts implanted for wise purposes in their 
natures, and which, when the earth was yet scantily peopled, and 
artificial culture comparatively unknown, must have conduced 
greatly to utility. So it was at creation — so it has been. But 
many tribes of animals were then created by the Almighty with a 
view to so many special purposes. According as man advances in 
knowledge and consequent improvement, so does the necessity for 
the intervention of brutal aid decrease, until at length what was at 
first a blessing, will if suffered to remain, become a pest. So it was 
with the Rat. In earlier ages, when man had no settled habita- 
tion, but roved to and fro upon the earth, killing, eating, and wast- 
ing, the aid of such animals, as scavengers, was most necessary, in 
order to maintain the atmosphere in such a pure and healthful con- 
dition as was necessary for his support. As cultivation of the soil 
commenced and progressed, and as the nomadic habits to which I 
allude ceased, so did the necessity cease for these animals to exist 
in their wonted numbers. TTe may, therefore, legitimately con- 
clude, I think, that when it becomes, as it has become, a positive 
battle between the rats and man for the produce of the ground, and 
when that produce owes its existence to the labor of the latter, that 
3 



50 THE TESTS OF THE FARM. 

he possesses every legitimate right to exterminate, if lie can, his 
vermin foes, root and branch, and to cry, with the clearest of con- 
sciences, M War — war to the — " trap ! 

There are three descriptions of Rat generally known as a nui- 
sance to the farmer or merchant : the common Brown or Norway 
Rat, the indigenous Black Rat. and the Water Rat. The last men- 
tioned is seldom a true rat ; for what is usually known as Water Bat 
is not a rat at all, but an animal of an allied genus, properly to be 
called Vole, The common Brown Rat sometimes also presents Al- 
bino characters, that is to say, it is occasionally to be found of a 
white color, with red eyes. It is not my intention, neither would 
it suit the purpose of the present w~ork, to enter at any length into 
the natural history of these animals ; a brief description will there- 
fore suffice. 




THE COMMOX BROWX RAT. 

The most formidable is the common Brown Rat (mus dtcumanns), 
an animal for whose importation we are indebted to the Xorwegians, 
and which has now almost wholly extirpated our indigenous va- 
riety, the Black Rat (rnus rattus). These animals require no de- 
scription ; — very little to our satisfaction, we are too well acquainted 
with their appearance. The Black Rat is smaller than the now 
common variety ; its color is a slaty blue, sometimes a jet black, 
and its tail is longer and more scaly than that of its Xorweo*ian 
conqueror. The White Rat is rare, and is merely an accidental 
variety of the Brown. These animals are all equally mischievous, 
and resemble each other in their habits, so that the same mode of 
destruction will answer for all. Various plans for the destruction 
of rats have been suggested, but I confess that I am not a little 
surprised that the adoption of some effectual means should be so 
little general as it is ; for I am prepared to assert that were all who 



QUADRUPEDS. 



51 



suffer from the ravages of these pests to apply themselves energeti- 
cally to the task of getting rid of them, they would — not, certainly, 
be wholly exterminated, but would become so reduced in numbers 
as to be no longer formidable — cease, in short, to occupy a position 
among the "Pests of the Farm." 

There are two methods by which rats can be effectually destroyed 
— traps and poison. Some writers have recommended the 
former ; others have been in favor of the latter. My own experi- 
ence induces me to state, that neither is to be adopted to the exclu- 
sion of. the other, both being equally good under certain circum- 
stances ; it must, however, be admitted, that trapping is only suited 
to instances where the vermin are few in number; where they swarm, 
wholesale measures must be resorted to, and the trapping of indi- 
viduals would be idle and useless. "When traps are to be em- 
ploy ed a small steel spring-trap, similar to that which I have de- 
scribed when treating of the wild cat, &c, but of course much 
smaller, is that to be preferred. It must be washed after each cap- 
ture, and the person who sets it should disguise the natural odor 

of his person, by using a little 



malt, impregnated slightly 
with a mixture of equal parts 
of the oils of rhodium and 
caraway. The proportions are . 
1 part of the mixed oils to 
5,000 parts of malt, A por- 
tion of this should be rubbed 
between the hands at each 
manipulation ; this is one of 
the great secrets of profession- 
The above is one of the most attractive baits for 
rats that can be used, and may 
be either employed in baiting- 
traps, or in acting as a vehicle for 
using poison. There is another 
very good description of trap, 
already described, open at both 
. ends, the doors closing on the 
J rats running upon a bridge in the 
middle. We have endeavored 
to explain the construction of this 
the three accompanying wood-cuts, the two first of 




al rat-catchers. 




52 



THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 




which represent the parts of 
the trap in a detached state — 
the third as it appears when set. 
There is also a very sim- 
ple description of trap, which 
any rustic can make, and 
which, in the absence of bet- 
ter, may be used with effect : 
it consists of a long box, open 
at one end, having the sides 
grooved to admit a sliding 
door. The better to enable the reader to understand the construc- 
tion of this trap, we subjoin the accompanying wood-cut : 

A — Represents the en- 
trance. 

B — An upright, supporting 
a horizontal beam, attached at 
C to a string fastened to a bit 
of meat, which, passing between 
the two wires represented in 
the wood-cut, is thus held in 
that position. 

D — Is the door, formed of 
heavy material, and running 
freely in. grooves. 

When the horizontal beam 
is drawn downwards, the bit of meat placed between the wires at 
C, the door D rises, and the trap is set. The rat, entering at D, 
bites the meat at C ; the weight of the door, no longer restrained, 
brings it suddenly down, and the animal is trapped. There can- 
not be a better trap than this, when the nuisance is confined to a 
few solitary rats ; but, as it only catches one at a time, it is com- 
paratively useless where these pests exist in any number : the fact 
is, that poison is then the only method to be relied on. There are 
many objections to the use of poison ; amongst others, the obvious 
one of the danger of poultry, dogs, or other animals, eating the 
fatal mess, and falling victims to their error. To obviate this and 
other objections, I shall show how the desired end can be attained 
by means of a substance fatal to the rats alone — the basis of that 
substance is phosphorus. 

" The following recipe for the destruction of rats has been com- 




QUADRUPEDS. 53 

mimicated by Dr. lire to the Council of the English Agricultural 
Society, and is highly recommended as the best known means of 
getting rid of these most obnoxious and destructive vermin. It 
has been tried by several intelligent persons, and found perfectly 
effectual. Melt hog's lard in a bottle plunged in water, heated to 
about 150 degrees of Fahrenheit; introduce into it half an ounce 
of phosphorus for every pound of lard ; then add a pint of proof- 
spirit or whiskey ; cork the bottle firmly after its contents have 
been heated to 150 degrees, taking it at the same time out of the 
water, and agitate smartly till the phosphorus becomes uniformly 
diffused, forming a milky-looking liquid. This liquid, being cooled, 
will afford a white compound of phosphorus and lard, from which 
the spirit spontaneously separates, and may be poured off to be 
used again, for none of it enters into the combination, but it merely 
serves to comminute the phosphorus, and diffuse it in very fine 
particles through the lard. This compound, on being warmed 
very gently, may be poured out into a mixture of wheat flour and 
sugar incorporated therewith, and then flavored with oil of rhodium, 
or not, at pleasure. The flavor may be varied with oil of aniseed, 
&c. This dough, being made into pellets, is to be laid in rat- 
holes. By its luminousness in the dark, it attracts their notice, 
and being agreeable to their palates and noses, it is readily eaten, 
and proves certainly fatal. They soon are seen issuing from their 
lurking-places to seek for water to quench their burning thirst and 
bowels, and they commonly die near the water. They continue to 
eat it as long as it is offered to them, without being deterred by 
the fate of their fellows, as is known to be the case with arsenical 
doses. It may be an easy guide for those who are desirous of fol- 
lowing Dr. Ure's prescription, and may not have a thermometer at 
hand to know that a temperature of 150 degrees of Fahrenheit is 
equivalent to a degree of heat midway between that at which 
white of egg coagulates, and white wax melts." 

I have little to offer in addition, except to suggest that the ve- 
hicle with which the compound of lard and phosphorus is to be 
used may be fresh molt, instead of a mixture of sugar and wheaten 
flour ; and I would also suggest the following preparation to be 
added, as an allurement, to induce the rats to eat freely : 



Oil of Rhodium 


1 scruple. 


Oil of Caraway 


1 drachm. 


Oil Lavender 


5 drops. 


Oil of Aniseed 


10 drops. 


Tincture of Musk 


2 drops. 



5-i THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

This is to be added to the compost, in the proportion of about 
10 drops to the ounce. If kept in a well-stopped bottle, and a bit 
oi Madder tied over the stopper, it will retain its strength for a 
length of time. The compound of phosphorus and lard was 
known to professional rat-catchers before Dr. Ure communicated 
the above formula to the Agricultural Society. A few applications 
will effect the clearance of the entire premises, and the object then 
to be desired is to prevent their return. In the " Farmer's Maga- 
zine." vol. viii., p. 452. the following receipt is given for this impor- 
tant purpose : — M Take one pound of nitre, and one pound of alum ; 
dissolve them together in two quarts of spring water ; get about a 
bushel of bran, and make a mash thereof, putting in two pints of 
the above liquid, and mixing all together. When you build your 
stacks, every second course, take a handful or two oi the mash, 
and throw upon them till they come to the easing. I have never 
seen this tried, but an agricultural friend states he has tried it, and 
found it so successful that he never has a stack put up in any other 
manner. 

Rats may be destroyed in great numbers in a barn, in the fol- 
lowing manner : — Before all the grain is removed, get some com- 
mon iron chafing-dishes, which fill with lighted charcoal, upon this 
strew a quantity oi broken s tic k brimstone, quit the barn as rapidly 
as possible, holding your breath the while, close fast the door, and 
leav^ the building shut for the next two days. On re-entering the 
barn, you will then find quantities of rats lying dead round the 
chafing-dishes. Some may have been stilled in their holes, and 
their bodies might, if no precautions were taken to prevent it, 
create for some time an unpleasant smell : to prevent this, you 
have only to stop up all the holes with mortar. Perform this 
operation again the following harvest, just previous to storing, and 
you will no Longer have any reason to complain of annoyance from 
the rats. As to the grain in stacks, it will he impossible for rats to 
injure them, if they be built upon proper staddles or platforms of 
stone or iron — the former should be built with an overhanging 

_ -. which will prevent vermin from ascending — this is unneces- 
s ry in the case of the latter, the iron legs presenting a sufficient 
ol-tacle to their ascent. 

The water-rat, or more properly, water-ro^. is somewhat larger 
than the common rat. has a short tail, and small round ears. Tois 
animal rarely exists in numbers sufficient to do any very great 
amount of mischief; a ferret and a brace of terriers will, at all 



QUADRUPEDS. 55 

events, effectually clear a stream of them in a very short time, 
and the chase will afford exciting amusement of a summer evening. 
I shall conclude the subject of the destruction of rats with an 
amusing account of a novel, but apparently, under the circum- 
stances, a most effective mode of accomplishing this object. 

BARRACK FOR RATS. 

An extensive bacon-merchant in Limerick, who kills between 
forty and fifty thousand pigs in a season, has adopted the following 
successful method to destroy the rats which abound on his pre- 
mises, where the abundance of food will always occasion a vast col- 
lection of these troublesome and destructive animals. He has 
erected a quadrangular stone building, eleven feet long, and seven 
feet wide, with a wall three feet high, having flags laid flat upon 
the top, but projecting a little over the inside of the wall. Ail 
round the wall inside, at the base, are numerous holes, like pigeon 
holes, which do not go quite through, except a few to allow a free 
passage to the little animals. Outside of the barrack is a plentiful 
supply of water and food, such as bones and useless offal. The 
interior of the walls is occupied by boards, lumber, and straw — 
just such concealment as these animals are known to prefer, and 
the whole is covered by a moveable wooden roof. When it is 
judged proper to destroy them, the passages are stopped at the 
outside, the roof is lifted off, and the boards are taken out. The 
frightened animals run up the wall, but their escape is impossible, 
for they strike against the projecting flags and fall back again. 
They then run into the small holes below, but these are only just 
large enough to admit their bodies, whilst the tails remain sticking 
out, a secure prize to the men who go in over the wall ; and by 
this unlucky appendage they suddenly drag them out, and fling 
them to a posse of anxious dogs outside of the fortress, or into a 
barrel of water, where they are soon destroyed. As there are not 
holes enough in the wall inside, the noise and uproar soon frighten 
another division of rats into the vacated openings, and these being 
treated in the same unceremonious manner, the whole garrison is 
thus speedily destroyed. As many as seven or eight hundred 
have been killed in one clearing. Rats being fond of straw, they 
also become very numerous on the lofts where this article is kept, 
to be used for singing bacon, and they cut it into short pieces with 
their teeth, which renders it useless for this purpose. The pro- 



56 



THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 



prietor tried the effect of putting a pet fox to mount guard on the 
lofts, and it was found that lie killed such quantities of the rats, 
that, throe or four were procured to garrison the place instead of 
one. 

Mice. — Of this tribe there are several varieties, which some re- 





P^*fc 




4f 

3111 



THE JUMPING FIELD MOUSE. 

gard as distinct species, while others assert the contrary. I have 
neither space nor inclination to enter into controversy, and shall 
confine myself to facts. The common house-mouse, with which all 
are familiar, is the enemy most to be dreaded in-doors, in the barn, 
and in the corn-stack. Wherever there are rats, mice will be few 
in number, the former preying upon the latter. In the field the 
farmer has both the house-mouse, and two descriptions of field- 
mice, or voles (arvicola) to contend with, a long and a short-tailed. 
These are the principal, and include several sub-varieties. All holes 
in a dwelling-house should be stopped with lime and pounded 
glass. The fumigating system will exterminate them from the 
barn, and if the stacks be built as I have directed, the corn there 
is safe from their attacks. It is in the field that the battle has to 
be fought — it is there that mice are really formidable, and require 
ingenuity to baffle and destroy them. Poison sown in the drills 
will, of course, destroy mice, but poultry and birds will possibly 
suffer with them. Our great object, therefore, must be to discover 
some substance fatal to them, and innoxious to larger animals. 



QUADRUPEDS. 57 

The small size, and delicate constitution of the mouse, renders this 
no very difficult matter ; and if every farmer will follow my ad- 
vice, his fields will be soon free. In the first instance, lest farmers 
should suppose that I exaggerate the havoc which these animals 
perpetrate, much of it possibly without the knowledge of the pro- 
prietor of the soil, who vainly speculates mentally in conjectures as 
to the cause of his grain-crop having proved so light, I shall pre- 
sent them with the following statement, on the authority of Mr. 
Maxwell, author of " Wild Sports of the West,' 5 wno > if I mistake 
not, quotes from Mr. Jesse. — " An extraordinary instance of the 
rapid increase of mice, and of the injury they sometimes do, oc- 
curred a few years ago in the new plantations made, by order of 
the crown, in Dean Forest, Gloucestershire, and in the New Forest, 
Hampshire. Soon after the formation of these plantations, a sud- 
den and rapid increase of mice took place in them, which threat- 
ened destruction to the whole of the young plants. Vast numbers 
of these were killed — the mice having eaten through the roots of 
five-year old oaks and chesnuts, generally just below the surface of 
the ground. Hollies, also, which were five and six feet high, were 
barked round the bottom ; and in some instances the mice had 
crawled up the tree, and were seen feeding on the bark of the up- 
per branches. 

" The following account will show the numbers of mice caught 
in the different enclosures in Dean Forest, in three months, from 
September to January, with the number of acres, and the propor- 
tion between the long and the short-tailed mice : — 

Short-tailed Long-tailed. 

Acres. Mice. Mice. Total. 

Haywood enclosure, 418 12.850 8 12.358 

Oily Hill do. 41 1.161 11 1.172 

Crabtree Hill do. 372 7,851 . . 7^851 

Park Hill do. 113 2,665 .. 2.665 

Shut Castle do. 163 484 33 517 

Sallow Valley do. 386 1.361 . . 1,361 

Earnhill do. 50 ' 70 . . 70 

Birchwood do. 50 3 3 

Whitemeadparkdo. 100 1.559 15 1,574 

Total Acres, 1.693 Total Mice, 2S ; 071» 

Having now satisfied you of the reality of this nuisance, let us 
consider some of the modes in which it may be removed. 

In " British Husbandry," vol. h\, p. 552, it is stated that the tops 
of last year's shoots of furze, chopped small, and sown with the 
3* 



5S THE PESTS OF THE FARtf. 

corn, will prevent their depredations; and it is added, in a note, 
that their ravages had run to such a height, in some parts of 
France, as to have ruined the farmers ! The mode adopted in that 
country for their destruction is also given : — " At Angerville, whole 
farms have been given up to the proprietors, in consequence of 
their continued devastation ; and the only method known of 
checking them is to defer the sowing any grain until spring, which 
precaution occasions them to forsake the fields, as it deprives them 
of the means of winter subsistence." The method adopted in the 
Forest of Dean, the ravages committed in which we have described 
above, and which proved efficacious to the fullest extent, after all 
others had failed, consisted in boring holes in the ground, to the 
depth of twenty inches, wider at the bottom than at top, in which 
was dropped some favorite food. The mice willingly entered, and 
from the form of the hole, being prevented from getting out again, 
were taken in such numbers as speedily rid the ground of them. 
One of the best pieces of advice on this subject is the following : — 
" Let the farmer first consider the nature and quality of his ground, 
and which fields are, from the nature of their soil, most likely to 
harbor the intruders, also in what places they are most mischievous. 
Let him never sow these under furrow, i. e., until the intruders 
have been expelled ; for that method of cropping deprives him of 
the power of combating his enemies. They work under ground, 
as it were, and will never come in the way of his poison. When 
these fields have been sown otherwise, and harrowed over, the mice 
must come ujjou the surface, and dig down for the corn, and they 
will then certainly meet with anything he lays on the ground for 
them." So far, so good. The author proceeds to point out the 
description of poison to be employed. This is, " a peck of barley 
meal, a pound of powder of white hellebore root, and four ounces 
of powder of staves-acre, and when these are all mixed together 
by sifting through a coarse hair-sieve, add half a pound of honey, 
and as much milk as will work the whole into a paste. Let this 
be broken in pieces, and scattered over the field at the time when 
the mice are known to be coming. They will eat it greedily, and 
it is certain death to them. There is nothing in any of the ingre- 
dients disagreeable to the taste when thus mixed ; and every mor- 
sel of it will be devoured. The mice will be kept from digging 
after the corn, and, at the same time, will be killed by the ingre- 
dients." I have heard farmers who had tried the above, speak 
favorably of it. But the most successful remedy of which I have 



QUADRUPEDS. 59 

yet heard is dropping into the holes, and on different portions of the 
field, pellets of the phosphoric compound described when treating 
of the rat. A little trouble of this kind, taken in the heat of sum- 
mer, when the holes can most easily be seen, will soon greatly 
diminish the number of the mice, if not wholly extirpate them. 

Before leaving this section, I conceive it advisable to say a few 
words of two valuable aids in the destruction of many of the pests 
which I have enumerated. I think that a few words of advice as 
to dogs and ferrets may not be amiss ; for, after all, the worst of 
these four-footed plagues is undeniably the rat. There are three 
distinct sorts of terrier — the common Scotch, the Skye, and the 
English. The Scotch is a strong, wire-haired dog, standing mode- 
rately high on his legs, with a thick head and a broad muzzle ; the 
Skye is very short on the legs, long in the back, small head, and 
narrow-muzzled ; his hair is also stiff and coarse ; the English ter- 
rier is short, close-haired, stands high on his legs, has a thickish 
head, with a long and fine muzzle, and is usually of a black-and- 
tan color. It is not, perhaps, very material as to which of these 
breeds you have, provided you train them properly to their game. 

The proper time for breaking your whelps is at the age of six 
to eight months ; if you do it earlier you may blink or cow them, 
and if you neglect it to a later period, you may find them unfit, 
too old for tuition. One great point is to teach your dogs never 
to mouth — this would prevent them from being rapid killers, and 
would cause the escape of many a rat : teach them to kill a rat in 
a single chop, and then to drop the carcase. You will readily effect 
this by putting him into a corn bin with a dozen or two rats ; he 
will then be in a hurry to get at all, and will not waste his time 
with any individual. 

Ferrets are originally natives of Africa ; it will, therefore, be 
obvious that they require warmth and a perfectly dry hutch. 
These animals are by no means to be trifled with, as they are only 
half reclaimed. Goldsmith says they have been known to attack 
and kill children in the cradle. Mr. Jesse relates an incident that 
occurred a few years since at Kingston in Surrey, of a ferret attack- 
ing a child, and having it nearly killed before it could be removed, 
and even then persevered in its attacks until its back was broken 
by repeated kicks, and it perished. I myself was one evening 
looking for a bitch ferret which I missed from her hutch ; it was 
dark, and I had only a candle to aid me in my search, when she 



60 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

suddenly sprang at my face, ns I was stooping over her place of 
concealment — the gloom had prevented my seeing her — and seized 
me by the cartilage of the nose, to which she hung with all the 
obstinacy of a bull-dog. I succeeded in getting her off by plung- 
ing my face into a tub of water. 

When ratting, some ferrets require muzzling, as otherwise they 
will, if they capture a rat, lie upon the carcase, and, after satiating 
themselves with the blood, fall asleep there ; if they do so, you 
may get them out by means of smoke, but the use of the muzzle 
is better. This consists of a little round bit of leather, having a 
hole in the centre, through which the ferret's nose is passed, and 
attached with side straps to a collar which encircles the neck. Be 
careful that there be no loose straps or strings about it, as these 
might become entangled with roots, &c, in the hole, and thus keep 
the ferret prisoner till starved to death. 



SECTION II. 
PREDACIOUS BIRDS. 

EAGLES KITES AND HAWKS CROWS, RAVENS, ETC. 

Of all birds, it may be said with truth, that they do more good 
than harm. Did farmers observe their habits closely, they would 
know this. Even the crow, detested and destructive as he is, is 
destructive only for a very few days in each year, and his depreda- 
tions, in a perceptible manner, are ordinarily confined to the corn- 
field, just at the season of the sprouting of the seed, and the ap- 
pearance of the blade above the ground. He somewhat infests 
newly-sown wheat, oats, and barley. And here ends his de- 
predations. The benefit that his race confers is the destruction 
of myriads of destroying worms. Did the crow not eat these, they 
would do far more injury than he does. They cannot be deterred 
from destroying — he may. . The robin and the woodpecker are 
pests among the cherries, when ripe, and yet they consume insects, 
worms, caterpillars, in vast numbers, that living, would destroy far 
more fruit than the birds. Indeed, it may be said that without 
birds, we should never grow any fruit. The owl and the hawk, 
that destroy occasionally a chicken, are mousers, and in the destruc- 
tion of mice and mohs, repay amply the evil they do. 



BIRDS. 61 

tt may reasonably be doubted if any birds, even the eagle, does 
as much harm as good. We always observe the evil done, rarely 
the benefit rendered. 

Among the birds, the only pests worthy of being noticed are 
the eagle, the crow and raven, the hawk (or kite, as he is frequently 
called), and the owl. 

The Eagle. — The eagle is a formidable " pest of the farm," 
pouncing from time to time upon the various inmates of the poul- 
try-yard, and carrying away the young in its talons, and even oc- 
casionally extending its depredations to a young pig or lamb ; 
besides, being, in some instances, known to attack a sickly or dying 
beast, and to anticipate death by (vulture fashion) pecking out its 
eyes. Still it must be admitted that the eagle usually behaves in 
a nobler manner, and, unless when very hard pinched by appetite, 
contents himself with such prey as he can convey away to his nest, 
or, as it is called, his eyrie, on the distant cliff. 

There are three sorts of eagle whose depreciations are most to be 
feared by farmers; These are, the Bald Eagle or White-Headed 
Eagle, the Ring-Tailed Eagle, and the Sea Eagle. A few words 
relative to the destruction of these birds will suffice, and the one 
set of directions will equally apply to all. The best mode of pro- 
tection against the ravages of the eagles is to shoot them where 
seen, and to have their nests annually robbed. This is best ma- 
naged by offering a bounty for the capture of young ones, or, as 
they are called, the eaglets. 

Bald Eagle or White-Headed Eagle. — This distinguished 
bird is entitled to particular notice. He has been long known to 
naturalists, being common to both continents, and occasionally met 
with from a very high northern latitude, to the borders of the tor- 
rid zone, but chiefly in the vicinity of the sea, and along the shores 
and cliffs of our lakes and large rivers. Formed by nature for 
braving the severest cold ; feeding equally on the produce of the 
sea and of the land ; possessing powders of flight capable of out- 
stripping even the tempests themselves ; unaw T ed by anything but 
man ; and, from the ethereal heights to which he soars, looking 
abroad, at one glance, on an immeasurable expanse of forests, 
fields, lakes, and ocean, deep below him, he appears indifferent to 
the little localities of change of seasons ; as, hi a few minutes, he 
can pass from summer to winter, from the lower to the higher re- 
gions of the atmosphere, the abode of eternal cold, and thence de- 



62 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

Bcend, at will, to the ton-id, or the arctic regions of the earth. He 
is, therefore, found, at all seasons, in the countries he inhabits ; but 
prefers such places as have been mentioned above, from the great 
partiality he has for fish. 

In procuring these, he displays, in a very singular manner, the 
genius and energy of his character, which is fierce, contemplative, 
daring, and t) rannical, — attributes not exerted but on particular 
occasions, but, when put forth, overpowering all opposition. 

When driven, as he sometimes is, by the combined courage and 
perseverance of the fish hawks, from their neighborhood, and forced, 
to hunt for himself, he retires more inland, in search of young pigs, 
of which he destroys great numbers. In the lower parts of Vir- 
ginia and North Carolina, where the inhabitants raise vast herds 
of those animals, complaints of this kind are very general against 
him. He also destroys young lambs in the early part of spring ; 
and will sometimes attack old sickly sheep, aiming furiously at 
their eyes. 

His intrepidity of character may be illustrated by the following 
fact, which occurred a few years ago, near Great Egg Harbor, New 
Jersey : — A woman, who happened to be weeding in the garden, 
had set her child down near, to amuse itself while she was at work ; 
when a sudden and extraordinary rushing sound, and a scream 
from her child, alarmed her, and, starting up, she beheld the infant 
thrown down, and dragged some few feet, and a large bald eagle 
bearing off a fragment of its frock, which being the only part 
seized, and giving way, providentially saved the life of the infant. 

The appetite of the bald eagle, though habituated to long fast- 
ing, is of the most voracious, and often the most indelicate kind. 
Fish, when he can obtain them, are preferred to all other fare. 
Young lambs and pigs are dainty morsels, and made free with on 
all favorable occasions. Ducks, geese, gulls, and other sea fowl, 
are also seized with avidity. 

The white-headed eagle is three feet long, and seven feet in ex- 
tent ; the bill is of a rich yellow ; cere, the same, slightly tinged 
with gTeen ; mouth, flesh-colored ; tip of the tongue, bluish black ; 
the head, chief part of the neck, vent, tail-coverts, and tail, are 
white in the perfect, or old birds of both sexes, — in those 
under three years of age these parts are of a gray brown ; the 
rest of the plumage is dark brown, each feather tipped with pale 
brown, lightest on the shoulder of the wing, and darkest towards 
its extremities. The conformation of the wing is admirably adapted 



BIRDS. 63 

for the support of so large a bird ; it measures two feet in breadth 
on the greater quills, and sixteen inches on the lesser ; the longest 
primaries are twenty inches in length, and upwards of one inch in 
circumference where they enter the skin ; the broadest secondaries 
are three inches in breadth across the vane ; the scapulars are very 
large and broad, spreading from the back to the wing, to prevent 
the air from passing through ; another range of broad flat feathers, 
from three to ten inches in length, also extends from the lower part 
of the breast to the wing below, for the same purpose ; between 
these lies a deep triangular cavity ; the thighs are remarkably 
thick, strong, and muscular, covered with long feathers pointing 
backwards, usually called the femoral feathers ; the legs, which are 
covered half way below the knee, before, with dark, brown downy 
feathers, are of a rich yellow, the color of ripe Indian corn ; feet, 
the same ; claws, blue-black, very large and strong, particularly the 
inner one, which is considerably the largest ; soles, very rough and 
warty ; the eye is sunk under a bony, or cartilaginous projection, 
of a pale yellow color, and is turned considerably forwards, not 
standing parallel with the cheeks ; the iris is of a bright straw color, 
pupil black. 

The male is generally two or three inches shorter than the fe- 
male ; the white on the head, neck, and tail being more tinged 
with yellowish, and its whole appearance less formidable ; the 
brown plumage is also lighter, and the bird itself less daring than 
the female, — a circumstance common to almost all birds of prey. 

The eagle is said to live to a great age, — sixty, eighty, and, as 
some assert, one hundred years. This circumstance is remarkable, 
when we consider the seeming intemperate habits of the bird, 
sometimes fasting, through necessity, for several days, and at other 
times gorging itself with animal food till its craw swells out the 
plumage of that part, forming a large protuberance on the breast. 
This, however, is its natural food, and for these habits its whole or- 
ganization is particularly adapted. Its food is simple, it indulges 
freely, uses great exercise, breathes the purest air, is healthy, 
vigorous, and long lived. 

The Ring-Tailed Eagle. — This noble bird, in strength, spirit, 
and activity, ranks among the first of its tribe. It is found, though 
sparingly dispersed, over the whole temperate and arctic regions, 
particularly the latter ; breeding on high, precipitous rocks, always 
preferring a mountainous country. 

The ring-tailed eagle measures nearly three feet in length ; the 



61 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

bill is of a brownish horn color; the cere, sides of the mouth, and 
feet, } ellow ; iris o( the eye, reddish hazel, the eye turned consider- 
ably forwards ; eyebrow, remarkably prominent, projecting over 
the eye, and giving a peculiar sternness to the aspect of the bird ; 
the crown is flat ; the plumage of the head, throat, and neck, long 
and pointed ; that on the upper part of the head and neck, very 
pale ferruginous ; fore part of the crown, black ; all the pointed 
feathers are shafted with black ; whole upper parts, dark blackish 
brown ; wings, black ; tail, rounded, long, of a white, or pale 
cream color, minutely sprinkled with specks of ash, and dusky, and 
ending in a broad band of deep dark brown, of nearly one-third its 
length; chin, cheeks, and throat, black; whole lower parts, a deep 
dark brown, except the vent and inside of the thighs, which are 
white, stained with brown ; legs, thickly covered to the feet, with 
brownish white down, or feathers ; claws, black, very large, sharp, 
and formidable, the hind one full two inches long. 

The ring-tailed eagle is found in the northern parts of America. 

Sea Eagle or Gray Eagle. — This eagle inhabits the same 
countries, frequent the same situations, and lives on the same kind 
of food, as the bald eagle, with whom it is often seen in company. 
It resembles this last much in figure, size, form of the bill, legs, 
and claws, and is often seen associating with it both along the At- 
lantic coast and in the vicinity of our lakes and large rivers. 

The sea eagle is said, by Salerne, to build on the loftiest oaks a 
very broad nest, into which it drops two large eggs, that are quite 
round, exceedingly heavy, and of a dirty white color. Of the pre- 
cise time of building, we have no account. 

The bird measures three feet in length, and upwards of seven 
feet in extent. The bill formed exactly like that of the bald eagle, 
but of a dusky brown color ; cere and legs, bright yellow ; the lat- 
ter, as in the bald eagle, feathered a little below the knee ; irides, 
a bright straw color ; head above, neck, and back, streaked with 
light brown, deep brown, and white, the plumage being white, 
tipped and centred with brown ; scapulars, brown ; lesser wing- 
coverts, very pale, intermixed with white ; primaries, black, their 
shafts brownish white ; rump, pale brownish white ; tail, rounded, 
somewhat longer than the wings, when shut, brown on the exterior 
vanes, the inner ones white, sprinkled with dirty brown ; throat, 
breast, and belly, white, dashed and streaked with different tints of 
brown and pale yellow ; vent, brown, tipped with white ; femorals, 
dark brown, tipped with lighter ; auriculars, brown, forming a bar 



BIRDS. 



65 



from below the eye backwards ; plumage of the neck, long, narrow, 
and pointed, as is usual with eagles, and of a brownish color tip- 
ped with white. 

The sea eagle is said to hunt at night, afe well as during the day, 
and that, besides fish, it feeds on chickens, birds, hares, and other 
animals. It is also said to catch fish during the night ; and that 




THE SEA EAGLE. 

the noise of its plunging into the water is heard at a great distance. 
But, in the descriptions of writers, this bird has been so fre- 
quently confounded with the osprey, as to leave little doubt that 
the habits and manners of the one have been often attributed to 
both, and others added that are common to neither. 

The gun, poisoned meats, or traps baited with meat or fish, are 
the only means of destroying eagles. 

The Crow. — This is perhaps the most generally known, and 
least beloved, of all our land birds ; having neither melody of song, 



66 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

nor beauty of plumage, uor excellence of flesh, nor civility of man- 
ners to recommend him ; on the contrary, he is branded as a thief 
and a plunderer — a kind of black-coated vagabond, who hovers 
over the fields of the industrious, fattening on their labors, and, by 
his voracity, often blasting their expectations. Hated as he is by the 
farmer, watched and persecuted by almost every bearer of a gun, 
who all triumph in his destruction, had not Heaven bestowed on 
him intelligence and sagacity for beyond common, there is reason 
to believe that the whole tribe (in these parts at least) w T ould long 
ago have ceased to exist. 

The crow is a constant attendant on agriculture, and a general 
inhabitant of the cultivated parts of North America. In the inte- 
rior of the forest he is more rare, unless during the season of breed- 
ing. He is particularly attached to low flat corn countries, lying- 
in the neighborhood of the sea, or of large rivers ; and more nu- 
merous in the northern than southern states. A strong antipathy, 
it is said, prevails between the crow and the raven, insomuch, that 
where the latter is numerous, the former rarely resides. 

The usual breeding time of the crow, is in March, April, and 
May, during which season they are dispersed over the woods in 
pairs, and roost in the neighborhood of the tree they have selected 
for their nest. About the middle of March they begin to build, 
generally choosing a high tree. 

It is in the month of May, and until the middle of June, that 
the crow is most destructive to the corn-fields, digging up the 
newly planted grains of maize, pulling up by the roots those that 
have begun to vegetate, and thus frequently obliging the farmer to 
replant, or lose the benefit of the soil ; and this sometimes twice, 
and even three times, occasioning a considerable additional expense, 
and inequality of harvest. jNo mercy is now shown him. The 
myriads of worms, moles, mice, caterpillars, grubs, and beetles, 
which he has destroyed, are altogether overlooked on these occa- 
sions. Detected in robbing the hens' nests, pulling up the corn, 
and killing the young chickens, he is considered as an outlaw, and 
sentenced to destruction. But the great difficulty is, how to put 
this sentence in execution. In vain the gunner skulks along the 
hedges and fences ; his faithful sentinels, planted on some com- 
manding point, raise the alarm, and disappoint vengeance of its 
object. The coast again clear, he returns once more in silence, to 
finish the repast he had begun. Sometimes he approaches the 
farm-house by stealth, in search of young chickens, which he is in 



BIRDS. 67 

the habit of snatching off, when he can elude the vigilance of the 
mother hen, who often proves too formidable for him. 

The crow himself sometimes falls a prey to the superior strength 
and rapacity of the great owl, whose weapons of offence are by far 
the more formidable of the two. 

Towards the close of summer, the parent crows, with their new 
families, forsaking their solitary lodgings, collect together, as if by 
previous agreement, when evening approaches. About an hour 
before sunset, they are first observed, flying, somewhat in Indian 
file, in one direction, at a short height above the tops of the trees, 
silent and steady, keeping the general curvature of the ground, 
continuing to pass sometimes till after sunset, so that the whole line 
of march would extend for many miles. This circumstance, so 
familiar and picturesque, has not been overlooked by the poets, in 
their descriptions of a rural evening. 

Crows form large roosts and dwell in them in immense numbers. 
A large one appears to be the grand rendezvous, or head-quarters, 
of the greater part of the crows within forty or fifty miles of the 
spot. The noise created by these multitudes, both in their evening 
assembly and reascension in the morning, and the depredations 
they commit in the immediate neighborhood of a great resort, are 
almost incredible. Whole fields of corn are sometimes laid waste 
by thousands alighting on it at once, with appetites whetted by the 
fast of the preceding night ; and the utmost vigilance is unavailing 
to prevent, at least, a partial destruction of this their favorite grain. 
Like the stragglers of an immense, undisciplined, and rapacious 
army, they spread themselves over the fields, to plunder and des- 
troy wherever they alight. It is here that the character of the 
crow is universally execrated ; and to say to the man who has lost 
his crop of corn by these birds, that crows are exceedingly useful 
for destroying vermin, would be as consolatory as to tell him who 
had just lost his house and furniture by the flames, that fires are 
excellent for destroying bugs. 

So universal is the hatred to crows, that few states have neg- 
lected to offer rewards for their destruction. In the United States, 
they have been repeatedly ranked in our laws with the wolves, the 
panthers, foxes, and squirrels, and a proportionable premium offered 
for their heads, to be paid by any justice of the peace to whom 
they are delivered. On all these accounts, various modes have 
been invented for capturing them. They have been taken in clap- 
nets, commonly used for taking pigeons ; two or three live crows 



GS THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

being previously procured as decoys, or, as they are called, stool- 
crows. Corn lias been steeped in a strong decoction of hellebore, 
which, when eaten by them, produces giddiness, and finally, it is 

said, death. Pieces of paper formed into the shape of a hollow 
cone, besmeared within with birdlime, and a grain or two of corn 
dropped on the bottom, have also been adopted. Numbers of 
these being placed on the ground, where corn has been planted, 
the crows attempting to reach the grains, are instantly hoodwinked, 
fly directly upwards to a great height ; but generally descend near 
the spot whence they rose, and are easily taken. The reeds of their 
roosting places are sometimes set on fire during a dark night, and 
the gunners having previously posted themselves around, the crow T s 
rise in great uproar, and, amidst the general consternation, by the 
lio'ht of the burnings, hundreds of them are shot down. 

Crows have been employed to catch crows, by the following 
stratagem : — A live crow is pinned by the wdngs down to the 
ground on his back, by means of two sharp, forked sticks. Thus 
situated, his cries are loud and incessant, particularly if any other 
crows are within view r . These, sweeping down about him, are in- 
stantly grappled by the prostrate prisoner, by the same instinctive 
impulse that urges a drowning person to grasp at everything within 
his reach. Having disengaged the game from his clutches, the 
trap is again ready for another experiment ; and by pinning down 
each captive, successively, as soon as taken, in a short time you wdll 
probably have a large flock screaming above you, in concert with 
the outrageous prisoners below. Many farmers, however, are con- 
tent with hanging up the skins, or dead carcasses, of crows in their 
corn-fields, in terrorem ; others depend altogether on the gun, keep- 
ing one of their people supplied w T ith ammunition, and constantly 
on the look out. 

The habits of the crow in his native state are so generally known 
as to require little further illustration. His watchfulness, and jeal- 
ous sagacity in distinguishing a person with a gun, are notorious 
to every one. In spring, when he makes his appearance among 
the proves and low thickets, the whole feathered songsters are in- 
stantly alarmed, w r ell knowing the depredations and murders he 
commits on their nests, eggs, and young. Few r of them, however, 
have the courage to attack him, except the king bird, wdio, on these 
occasions, teases and pursues him from place to place, diving on his 
back while high in the air, and harassing linn for a great distance. 
A single pair of these noble-spirited birds, w 7 hose nest was built 



BIRDS. 69 

near, have been known to protect a whole field of corn from the 
depreciations of the crows, not permitting one to approach it. 

The crow is eighteen inches and a hall long, and three feet two 
inches in extent ; the general color is a shining glossy blue black, 
with purplish reflections ; the throat and lower parts are less 
glossy ; the bill and legs, a shining black, the former two inches 
and a quarter long, very strong, and covered at the base with 
thick tufts of recumbent feathers ; the wings, when shut, reach 
within an inch and a quarter of the tip of the tail, which is 
rounded ; fourth primary, the longest ; secondaries scolloped at the 
ends, and minutely pointed, by the prolongation of the shaft ; iris, 
dark hazel. 

The female differs from the male in being more dull colored, and 
rather deficient in the glossy and purplish tints and reflections. 
The difference, however, is not great 

Besides grain, insects, and carrion, they feed on frogs, tadpoles, 
small fish, lizards, and shell fish ; with the latter they frequently 
mount to a great height, dropping them on the rocks below, and 
descending after them to pick up the contents. Many other aquatic 
insects, as well as marine plants, furnish them with food ; which 
accounts for their being so generally found, and so numerous, on 
the sea shore, and along the banks of our large rivers. 

The Raven. — The raven is a general inhabitant of the United 
States, but is more common in the interior. It is a remarkable 
fact, that where they so abound, the common crow seldom makes 
its appearance ; being intimidated, it is conjectured, by the superior 
size and strength of the former, or by an antipathy which the two 
species manifest towards each other. 

The food of this species is dead animal matter of all kinds, not 
excepting the most putrid carrion, which it devours in common 
with the vultures ; worms, grubs, reptiles, and shell fish, the last of 
which, in the manner of the crow, it drops from a considerable 
height in the air, on the rocks, in order to break the shells ; it is 
fond of bird's eggs, and is often observed sneaking around the 
farm-house in search of the eggs of the domestic poultry, which it 
sucks with eagerness ; it is likewise charged with destroying young 
ducks and chickens, and lambs which have been yeaned in a sickly 
state. • 

The raven measures, from the tip of the bill to the end of the 
tail, twenty-six inches, and is four feet in extent ; the bill is large 
and strong, of a shining black, notched near the tip, and three in- 



70 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

dies long ; the setaceous feathers which, cover the nostrils extend 
half its Length ; the eves are black ; the general color is a deep 
glossy black, with steel-blue reflections ; the lower parts are less 
glossy ; the tail is rounded, and extends about two inches beyond 
the wings ; the legs are two inches and a half in length, and, w 7 ith 
the feet, are strong and black ; the claws are lon,g. 

Tli is bird is said to attain to a great age ; and its plumage to be 
subject to change from the influence of years and of climate. It 
is found in Iceland and Greenland entirely white. 

The raven may be destroyed in several of the many ways adopted 
to kill the crow. He is more easily shot than the crow. 

Of Hawks there is a great variety in America. Those only 
are described that are common and diffused enough to be generally 
troublesome. 

American Sparrow Hawk. — This bird is a constant resident 
in almost eveiy part of the United States, particularly in the states 
north of Maryland. In the Southern States there is a smaller 
species found, wdiich is destitute of the black spots on the head ; 
the legs are long and very slender, and the wings light blue. 

The nest of this species is usually built in a hollow tree ; gene- 
rally pretty high up, where the top, or a large limb, has been 
broken off. The female generally lays four or five eggs, which are 
of a light brownish yellow color, spotted with a darker tint ; the 
young are fed on grasshoppers, mice, and small birds, the usual 
food of the parents. 

The habits and manners of this bird are well known. It flies 
rather irregularly, occasionally suspending itself in the air, hover- 
ing over a particular spot for a minute or two, and then shooting 
off in another direction. It perches on the top of a dead tree or 
pole, in the middle of a field or meadow, and, as it alights, shuts 
its long wings so suddenly, that they seem instantly to disappear ; 
it sits here in an almost perpendicular position, sometimes for an 
hour at a time, frequently jerking its tail, and reconnoitring the 
ground below, in every direction, for mice, lizards, &c. It ap- 
proaches the farm-house, particularly in the morning, skulking 
about the barn-yard for mice or young chickens. It frequently 
plunges into a thicket after small birds, as if by random, but 
always with a particular, and generally a fatal, aim. It is particu- 
larly fond of watching along hedge-rows, and in orchards, where 
those small birds usually resort. When grasshoppers are plenty, 
they form a considerable part of its food. 



BIRDS. 71 

Though small snakes, mice, lizards, &c, be favorite morsels with 
this active bird, yet we are not to suppose it altogether destitute of 
delicacy in feeding. It will seldom or never eat of anything that it 
has not itself killed, and even that, if not in good eating order, is 
sometimes rejected. 

The female of this species is eleven inches long, and twenty- 
three from tip to tip of the expanded wings. The cere and legs 
are yellow ; bill, blue, tipped with black ; space round the eye, 
greenish blue ; iris, deep dusky ; head, bluish ash ; crown, rufous ; 
seven spots of black on a white ground surround the head ; whole 
upper parts reddish bay, transversely streaked with black ; primary 
and secondary quills, black, spotted on their inner vanes with 
brownish white ; whole lower parts, yellowish white, marked with 
longitudinal streaks of brown, except the chin, vent, and femoral 
feathers, which are white ; claws, black. 

The male sparrow hawk measures about ten inches in length, 
and twenty-one in extent ; the whole upper parts of the head are 
of a fine slate blue, the shafts of the plumage being black, the 
crown excepted, which is marked with a spot of bright rufous ; the 
slate tapers to a point on each side of the neck ; seven black spots 
surround the head, as in the female, on a reddish white ground, 
which also borders each sloping side of the blue ; front, lores, line 
over and under the eye, chin, and throat, white ; femoral and vent- 
feathers, yellowish white ; the rest of the lower parts, of the same 
tint, each feather bein^ streaked down the centre with a long black 
drop ; those on the breast, slender, on the sides, larger ; upper part 
of the back and scapulars, deep reddish bay, marked with ten or 
twelve tranverse waves of black ; whole wing-coverts and ends of 
the secondaries, bright slate, spotted with black ; primaries and 
upper half of the secondaries, black, tipped with white, and spotted 
on their inner vanes with the same ; lower part of the back, the 
rump, and tail-coverts, plain bright bay ; tail rounded, the two ex- 
terior feathers white, their inner vanes beautifully spotted with 
black; the next, bright bay, with a broad band of black near its 
end, and tipped for half an inch with yellowish white ; part of its 
lower exterior edge, white, spotted with black, and its opposite in- 
terior edge, touched with white ; the whole of the others are very 
deep red bay, with a single, broad band of black near the end, and 
tipped with yellowish white ; cere and legs, yellow ; orbits, the 
same ; bill, light blue ; his of the eye, dark, almost black ; claws, 
blue-black. 



rl THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

Red-Tailed Hawk. — This species inhabits the whole United 
States, and is not migratory. Among extensive meadows, where 
flocks of larks, and where mice and moles are in great abundance, 
many individuals of this hawk spend the greater part of the winter. 
Others prowl around the plantations, looking out for vagrant 
chickens ; their method of seizing which is, by sweeping swiftly 
over the spot, and, grappling them with their talons, bearing them 
away to the woods. 

The red-tailed hawk is twenty inches long, and three feet nine 
inches in extent ; bill, blue-black ; cere, and sides of the mouth, 
yellow, tinged with green ; lores, and spot on the under eyelid, 
white, the former marked with fine, radiating hairs ; eyebrow, or 
cartilage, a dull eel-skin color, prominent, projecting over the eye ; 
a broad streak of dark brown extends from the sides of the mouth 
backwards ; crown and hind head, dark brown, seamed with white, 
and ferruginous ; sides of the neck, dull ferruginous, streaked with 
brown ; eye, large ; iris, pale amber ; back and shoulders, deep 
brown ; wings, dusky, barred w T ith blackish ; ends of the Hve first 
primaries, nearly black ; scapulars, barred broadly with white and 
brown ; sides of the tail-coverts, white, barred with ferruginous, 
middle ones dark, edged with rust ; tail, rounded, extending two 
inches beyond the wings, and of a bright red browm, wdth a single 
band of black near the end, and tipped with brownish white ; on 
some of the lateral feathers are slight indications of the remains of 
other narrow bars ; lower parts, brownish white ; the breast, fer- 
ruginous, streaked with dark brown ; -across the belly, a band of 
interrupted spots of brown ; chin, white ; feniorals and vent, pale 
brownish white, the former marked with a few minute heart- 
shaped spots of brown ; legs, yellow, feathered half way below the 
knees. 

The gun, or traps baited with mice, toads, &c, or a dead fowl, 
are the proper, means to destroy hawks. 

Owls. — There is a great variety of owls all over America. Some 
are so rare as to be of no account as pests ; others are common 
everywhere. The predacious habits of all are the same. Those that 
are described will, as far as evil habits are concerned, represent the 
whole variety. 

The Barred Owl. — This is one of our most common owls. 
It is very frequently observed flying during day, and certainly sees 
more distinctly at that time than many of its genus. 

These birds sometimes seize on fowls, partridges, and young rab- 



BIRDS. 



73 



bits ; mice and small game are, however, their most usual food. The 
difference in size between the male and female of this owl is extra- 
ordinary, amounting sometimes to nearly eight inches in the length. 
Both scream during day, like a hawk. 




THE OWL. 

The male barred owl measures sixteen inches and a half in 
length, and thirty-eight inches in extent ; upper parts a pale brown, 
marked with transverse spots of white ; wings barred with alter- 
nate bands of pale brown, and darker ; head, smooth, veiy large, 
mottled with transverse touches of dark brown, pale brown, and 
white ; eyes, large, deep blue, the pupil not perceivable ; face, or 
radiated circle of the eyes, gray, surrounded by an outline of brown 



74 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

and white dots ; bill, yellow, tinged with green ; breast, barred 
transversely with rows of brown and white ; belly, streaked longi- 
tudinally with long stripes of brown, on a yellowish ground ; vent, 
plain yellowish white ; thighs and feathered legs, the same, 
slightly pointed with brown ; toes, nearly covered with plumage ; 
claws, dark horn color, very sharp ; tail, rounded, and remarkably 
concave below, barred with six broad bars of brown, and as many 
narrow ones of white ; the back and shoulders have a cast of chest- 
nut ; at each internal angle of the eye, is a broad spot of black ; 
the plumage of the radiated circle round the eye ends in long black 
hairs ; and the bill is encompassed by others of a longer and more 
bristly kind. These probably serve to guard the eye when any 
danger approaches it in sweeping hastily through the woods ; and 
those usually found on flycatchers may have the same intention to 
fulfill ; for, on the slightest touch of the point of any of these hairs, 
the nicitant membrane was instantly thrown over the eye. 

The female is twenty-two inches long, and four feet in extent ; 
the chief difference of color consists in her wings being broadly 
spotted with white ; the shoulder being a plain chocolate brown ; 
the tail extends considerably beyond the tips of the wings ; the bill 
is much larger, and of a more golden yellow ; iris of the eye, the 
same as that of the male. 

Little Owl. — This is one of the least of its whole genus ; but, 
like many other little folks, makes up, in neatness of general form 
and appearance, for deficiency of size, and is, perhaps, the most 
shapely of all our owls. xSor are the colors and markings of its 
plumage inferior in simplicity and effect to most others. It also 
possesses an eye fully equal in spirit and. brilliancy to the best of 
them. 

This species is a general and constant inhabitant of the middle 
and northern states ; but is found most numerous in the neighbor- 
hood of the sea-shore, and among woods and swamps of pine trees. 
It rarely rambles much during day ; but, if disturbed, flies a short 
way, and again takes shelter from the light ; at the approach of 
twilight it is all life and activity, being a noted and dextrous 
mouse-catcher. 

The little owl is seven inches and a half long, and eighteen in- 
ches in extent ; the upper parts are a plain brown olive, the scapu- 
lars and some of the greater and lesser coverts being spotted with 
white ; the first five primaries are crossed obliquely with five bars 
of white ; tail, rounded, rather darker than the body, crossed with 



BIRDS. 75 

two rows of white spots, and tipped with white ; whole interior 
vanes of the wings, spotted with the same ; auriculars, yellowish 
brown ; crown, upper part of the neck, and circle surrounding the 
ears, beautifully marked with numerous points of white on an olive 
brown ground ; front, pure white, ending in long blackish hairs ; 
at the internal angle of the eyes, a broad spot of black radiating 
outwards ; irides, pale yellow ; bill, a blackish horn color ; lower 
parts, streaked with yellow ochre and reddish bay ; thighs, and fea- 
thered legs, pale buff; toes, covered to the claws, which are black, 
large, and sharp-pointed. 

Red Owl. — This is another of our nocturnal wanderers, well 
known by its common name, the little screech oivl ; and noted for 
its melancholy quivering kind of wailing in the evenings, particu- 
larly towards the latter part of summer and autumn, near the farm- 
house. On clear moonlight nights, they answer each other from 
various parts of the fields or orchards; roost during the day in 
thick evergreens, such as cedar, pine, or juniper trees, and are 
rarely seen abroad in sunshine. In May, they construct their nest 
in the hollow of a tree, often in the orchard in an old apple tree ; 
the nest is composed of some hay and a few feathers ; the eggs 
are four, pure white, and nearly round. The young are at first 
covered with a whitish down. 

This species is found generally over the United States, and is 
not migratory. 

The red owl is eight inches and a half long, and twenty-one in- 
ches in extent ; general color of the plumage above, a bright nut 
brown, or tawny red ; the shafts, black ; exterior edges of the 
outer row of scapulars, white ; bastard wing, the five first primaries, 
and three or four of the first greater coverts, all spotted with white ; 
wdiole wing-quills, spotted with dusky on their exterior webs ; tail, 
rounded, transversely barred with dusky and pale brown ; chin, 
breast, and sides, bright reddish brown, streaked laterally with 
black, intermixed with white ; belly and vent, white, spotted with 
bright brown ; legs, covered to the claws with pale brown hairy 
down ; extremities of the toes and claws, pale bluish, ending in 
black ; bill, a pale bluish horn color ; eyes, vivid yellow ; inner 
angles of the eyes, eyebrows, and space surrounding the bill, 
whitish ; rest of the face, nut brown ; head, horned or eared, each 
horn consisting of nine or ten feathers of a tawny red, shafted with 
black. 

Great Horned Owl. — This noted and formidable owl is found 



70 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

in almost every quarter of the United States. His favorite resi- 
dence, however, is in the dark solitudes of deep swamps, covered 
with a growth of gigantic timber; and here, as soon as evening 
draws on, and mankind retire to rest, he sends forth such sounds 
- - in scarcely to belong to this world, startling the solitary pil- 
grim as he slumbers by his forest fire, " making night hideous." 

It preys on young rabbits, squirrels, rats, mice, partridges, and 
small birds of various kinds. It has been often known to prowl 
about the form-house, and carry off chickens from roost. 

The owl being nocturnal, is not easily shot, but may be occasion- 
ally. He may be taken in traps baited with mice, fowls, or any of 
his usual food. 



SECTION III. 



INSECTS. 



It is in the larva state that the ravages of insects are most felt, and 
this requires a word or two of explanation. 

Butterflies, Moths, and many other insects, undergo a succes- 
sion of changes, or transformations, prior to their assuming their 
last and frequently gorgeous form, under which we see them flut- 
tering from flower to flower. Of course, I speak now more parti- 
cularly of the butterfly. The moths are usually, though, no doubt, 
many of them are extremely beautiful, much more sober in their 
movements, and less gaudy in their plumage. They are, also, prin- 
cipally of nocturnal habits, and consequently come less frequently, 
and less strikingly, under our notice. 

The female moth or butterfly deposits an egg, which, gradually 
ripening to maturity, becomes, a maggot, grub, or caterpillar. This 
is called the larva, and it is in this stage that the insects prove 
most noxious to the farmer's crops. These larvae are excessively 
voracious, and their ravages terminate only with their next trans- 
formation into the state of pupa, or chrysalis. Prior to assuming 
this state, the caterpillar forsakes its food, and seeks some retired 
and safe retreat, usually burying itself for this purpose under- 
ground. The head then gradually bends forward, and the face is 
embraced by the upper or thoracic feet ; the body likewise becomes 
contracted in its dimensions, more particularly in its length, and 



INSECTS. 77 

also gradually becomes covered with a firm and shell-like coat or 
case. This is a thickening and induration of the skin of the grub, 
not of the epidermis or cuticle ; for that is gradually cast as a slough, 
in proportion as the work of transformation proceeds. The chry- 
salis is soon formed ; some insects envelop themselves in a web, as 
the silkworm, (fee. ; others do not. During this stage, the insect is, 
of course, perfectly harmless. In course of time, the perfect insect 
is formed within its shelly sheath ; it now commences the work of 
breaking open its prison, having effected which, it emerges in all 
the beauty of insect perfection. 

Caterpillars do not prey indiscriminately on all sorts of herb- 
age or farming produce. Each species has its favorite plant, or 
plants ; and not even starvation will induce it to transgress these 
limits that instinct has assigned to its appetite, or eat of a plant of 
another sort. 




THE WIREWORM, AND PARENT BEETLES, MALE AND FEMALE. 

One of the most destructive grubs which infests the fields of the 
agriculturist, or renders futile the care and skill of the gardener, is, 
perhaps, that well-known larva — the AYireworm. I may here ob- 
serve that the general name of uireworm is given to the larva of 
many species of beetle, all, however, very similar in habits and ap- 
pearance, and so equally gifted as to their destructive powers, that 
it would be difficult, indeed, to draw any distinction in this respect 
between them. 

Scarcely any land is free from the ravages of some one or other 
of the wireworms ; and there is scarcely any description of crop 
upon which they will not prey with equal greediness. Wherever 
grass or any sort of herbage will grow, there will the greedy 
whvworm be found. The beetles, of which the wireworms are 
the larvae, are those called the Elaters ; also spring-beetles, skip- 



i 8 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

jacks, and dick or snip-beetles, from the power they possess of 
springing up with a click or snap-like noise when placed upon 
their backs. The egga of the wireworm are very minute, and 
are deposited in the earth at the root of the young plants. When 
first hatched they are invisible to the naked eye, but attain nearly 
the length of an inch when full grown, and in this state of larvae 
they remain for nearly five years. No w r onder, therefore, that, be- 
tween their longevity and rapacity, they should be deemed by far- 
mers so very pestilent a scourge. During the continuance of their 
larva state, these w^orms cast their outer skin several times, being- 
white in color, and very tender for a short period after each slough- 
ing ; at other times they are covered with a hard and solid coat of 
a horny consistence, so firm and impenetrable as to render them 
proof against most of the ordinary remedies that might be used 
for their destruction. 

Wireworms are somewhat more than half an inch in length, and 
resemble the meal-worm in appearance, but are more angular, less 
perfectly cylindrical, more flattened above and below. Their head 
is horny and formed for perforation, and the mouth, though small, 
is furnished with a most effective pair of very powerful jaws. 
There are six feet on the upper portion of the thorax, and one at 
the extremity or tail. The former are called pectoral or thoracic, 
the latter anal. 

When full-grown, the wireworm buries itself in the ground, 
where it forms a cell, in which it becomes a chrysalis or pupa ; 
this change takes place early in autumn, and in two or three weeks 
at farthest it becomes a beetle. The beetles are harmless, feeding 
only on flowers ; they can fly w T ell, and wmen on the ground can 
run very fast, with their heads down, and drop when approached. 
The mouth is not the same in appearance with that which existed 
in the worm, but will, on examination, be found to be formed of 
the same organs, only perfected. 

There are two species of beetle that produce the wireworm, 
more common in grain-fields than the rest, and therefore the more 
to be dreaded. These are : the elater appressifrons, and the elater 
obesus. 

The bug parent is familiarly known as the snapping bug. As 
before said the worm continues five years before its transmutation 
to the perfect insect state, during which time it feeds on the roots 
of wheat, barley, oats, corn and grass. Its ravages are sometimes 
extensive and desolating. 



INSECTS. 79 

The wirewornis usually eat into the stalks just about the roots, 
and sometimes separate it from the root altogether ; they seldom, 
however, remain so long engaged upon the one spot or portion of 
stalk. When they attack potatoes, they penetrate into their wry 
hearts, and thus frequently wholly destroy the seed potatoes when 
newly planted ; to obviate which it has been recommended to 
plant whole potatoes. 

Amongst the green crops, turnips may be regarded as the 
greatest sufferers, and the tender young plants are, of course, most 
victimized in autumn. Multitudes of these ravenous grubs may 
then be found gnawing at the roots of the young turnips, and 
even biting off their extremities. They also frequently attack the 
stalk, bite it across, and when the stems fall, attack the leaves. 
This is, however, one of the least formidable of the robberies of 
this persevering pest> and if the wire worms were satisfied with the 
leaves alone, they would not be so injurious. 

We should possess some acquaintance with the natural history of 
such animals as we desire to destroy. Such knowledge facilitates 
our operations, by informing us of their haunts and habits, of their 
dispositions and predilections, and, consequently, not only of where 
we are to seek for the pests, but of how we can best set to work 
to accomplish their destruction. Recollect, I may remark, in pass- 
ing that the beetles, whence the wireworms are produced, are, 
although not necessarily mischievous themselves, to be regarded as 
the grand source of your annoyances. L>;-t it be your care, there- 
fore, to have these caught and destroyed ; they will be chierlv 
found, during spring and summer, upon nettles, hemlock, fools' 
parsley, and other such herbs. Let this be one of your cares. 

The eggs are chierlv deposited in pastures where the surface has 
been undisturbed, and in clover layers and fallows. Where, there- 
fore, they make their appearance, you will find it a good plan to 
have your pasture eaten close by sheep. Rolling^ in early spring, is 
also recommended, and is, in my opinion, very likely to prove ser- 
viceable, having been preceded by a top-divssing of lime. I re- 
commend a top-dressing of lime, salt, and soot. The proportions 
recommended are as follows : — Lime. 2 parts : soot. 3 parts ; salt, 
1 part. The salt may be purchased from salt works, or extensive 
dealers in that article, as spoiled salt — there being accidents which 
will render it unfit for market as salt, without at all militating against 
its value as manure, or a top-dressing. The lime should be quick- 
lime pounded, and the mixture should be applied to the land as 



SO THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

speedily as possible after having been compounded : be it also re- 
membered that this composition will be found a valuable fertilizer, 
as well as a foe to insects of all sorts. Woad, sweet gale, the re- 
fuse o\' gas-works, spirits of tar, chloride of lime, nitrate of soda, 
mixed with the manure, w T ill be found very serviceable ; at all 
events, effecting a sensible diminution in the numbers of the wire- 
worm, and of course a diminution of their ravages in an equal 
ratio. 

The wireworm is found in great numbers, generally on newly 
cultivated grounds, or meadows, which have been long in repose ; 
they can be conquered, and should not be suffered to revel on the 
j)lants of industrious farmers. Exposure to the frosts of winter 
will destroy them ; therefore, autumn plowing is essential ; and 
the course or remedy suggested to destroy the cutworm, is equally 
effective on the wireworm. 

It has been tried to destroy the wireworm by flooding, but this 
is only a useless attempt, it being almost impossible to drown this 
creature, which will be found as lively as ever after a total immer- 
sion for three, or even four, days ; still, however, such flooding, 
though it will not destroy the worms, interferes w r ith the laying of 
the beetles which produce them, and will consequently, in this 
point of view, be occasionally found useful. 

Soda lias been used with success. I have known soda tried by 
practical men, who were most unwilling, unless actually coerced 
into it, to listen to any novelty, and they have unanimously asserted 
the success of their experiments with soda. 

Let frogs and toads be encouraged on your lands ; their entire 
food consists of insects, of such creatures as you are most anxious 
to destroy. Call them in, therefore, to your assistance — protect 
them, regard them as your friends and laborers, and they will aid 
you most extensively. The robin, blackbird, wagtail, thrush, to- 
gether with poultry, and crows, &c, feed on these insects. 

Iules. — In various parts of the country the iules is supposed 
to be, and often is called, the wdreworm ; but does not belong to 
that family ; a sketch of the iules is given to correct this erroneous 
belief. Each segment of the body is furnished with two pairs of 
legs, whereas the true wireworm has but six. The iules also, when 
disturbed or alarmed, rolls itself into a coil which the hardness of 
the wireworm will not admit of. The iules is perfect in itself, and 
is oviparous ; the wireworm is a larva and cannot produce ovae 
until its transformation to the beetle or perfect state. The iules 



INSECTS. 81 





THE IULES. 

consumes vegetable substances in a state of decomposition ; the 
wire worm subsists on living roots in healthful vigor. 

May-Bugs. — Among the tree-beetles those commonly called dors, 
chafers, May-bugs, and rose-bugs, are the most interesting to the 
farmer and gardener, on account of their extensive ravages, both 
in the winged and larva states. Besides the leaves of fruit-trees, 
they devour those of various forest-trees and shrubs, with an avidity 
not much less than that of the locust, so that, in certain seasons, 
and in particular districts, they become an oppressive scourge, and 
the source of much misery to the inhabitants. 

The May-beetle is our common species. It is of a chestnut- 
brown color, smooth, but finely punctured, that is,, covered with, 
little impressed dots, as if pricked with the point of a needle ; each 
wing-case has two or three slightly elevated longitudinal lines ; the 
breast is clothed with yellowish down. The knob of its antennae 
contains only three leaf-like joints. Its average length is nine-tenths 
of an inch. In its perfect state it feeds on the leaves of trees, par- 
ticularly on those of the cherry tree. It flies with a humming 
noise in the night, from the middle of May to the end of June, and 
frequently enters houses, attracted by the light. In the course of 
the spring, these beetles are often thrown from the earth by the 
spade and plow, in various states of maturity, some being soft 
and nearly white, their superabundant juices not having evaporated, 
while others exhibit the true color and texture of the perfect insect. 
The grubs devour the roots of grass and of other plants, and in 
many places the turf may be turned up like a carpet in consequence 
of the destruction of the roots. The grub is a white worm with a 
brownish head, and, when fully grown, is nearly as thick as the 
little finger. It is eaten greedily by crows and fowls. The beetles 
are devoured by the skunk, whose beneficial foraging is detected in 
4* 



S2 THE PESTS OF THE FARM, 

our gardens by its abundant excrement filled with the wing-cases 
of those insects. The beetles may be effectually exterminated by 
shaking thorn from the trees every evening. The best time, how- 
ever, tor shaking trees on which the May-beetles are lodged, is in 
the morning, when the insects do not attempt to fly. They are, 
most easily collected in a cloth spread under the trees to receive 
them when they fall, after which, they should be thrown into boiling 
water, to kill them, and may then be given as food to swine. 





MAY-BUG. 

The familiar cock chafer, or May-bug, is the parent of the 
grub, which is abundant in all pastures or grass fields, especially 
in soft vegetable soils. The grub is a destructive creature, continu- 
ing its devastations for a period of three summers before its trans- 
formation. The roots of all grasses and grains are acceptable, but 
the roots of Indian corn furnish a feast from which they will not 
turn, until disturbed by the crow, who is too often unfairly abused 
for mischief unknown to him. 

Rose Bugs. — For some time after they were first noticed, rose- 
bugs appeared to be confined to their favorite, the blossoms of the 
rose ; but within thirty years they have prodigiously increased in 
number, have attacked at random various kinds of plants in swarms, 
and have become notorious for their extensive and deplorable rava- 
ges. The grape-vine in particular, the cherry, plum, and apple 
trees, have annually suffered by their depredations ; many other 
fruit-trees and shrubs, garden vegetables and corn, and even the 
trees of the forest and the grass of the fields, have been laid under 
contribution by these indiscriminate feeders, by whom leaves, flow- 
ers, and fruits are alike consumed. They come forth from the 
ground during the second week in June, and remain from thirty to 
forty days. At the end of this period the males become exhausted, 
fall to the ground, and perish, while the females enter the earth, 
lay their eggs, return to the surface, and, after lingering a few days, 
die also. The eggs laid by each female are about thirty in num- 
ber, and are deposited from one to four inches beneath the surface 



INSECTS. 83 

of the soil ; they are nearly globular, whitish and about one thir- 
tieth of an inch in diameter, and are hatched twenty days after 
they are laid. The young larvae begin to feed on such tender roots 
as are within their reach. When not eating, they lie upon the 
side, with the body curved so that the head and tail are nearly in 
contact ; they move with difficulty on a level surface, and are con- 
tinually falling over on one side or the other. They attain their 
full size in the autumn, being then three-quarters of an inch long, 
and about an eighth of an inch in diameter. They are of a yel- 
lowish white color, with a tinge of blue towards the hinder ex- 
tremity, which is thick and obtuse or rounded ; a few short hairs 
are scattered on the surface of the body ; there are six short legs, 
namely a pair to each of the first three rings behind the head ; and 
the latter is covered with a horny shell of a pale rust color. In 
October they descend below the reach of frost, and pass the winter 
in a torpid state. In the spring they approach towards the surface, 
and each one forms for itself a little cell of an oval shape, by turn- 
ing round a great many times, so as to compress the earth and 
render the inside of the cavity hard and smooth. Within this cell 
the grub is transformed to a pupa, during the month of May, by 
casting off its skin, which is pushed downwards in folds from the 
head to the tail. The pupa has somewhat the form of the perfected 
beetle ; but it is of a yellowish white color, and its short stump-like 
wings, its antennae, and its legs are folded upon the breast, and its 
whole body is enclosed in a thin film, that wraps each part sepa- 
rately. During the month of June this filmy skin is rent, the in- 
cluded beetle withdraws from it its body and its limbs, bursts open 
its earthen cell, and digs its way to the surface of the ground. Thus 
the various changes, from the egg to the full development of the 
perfected beetle, are completed within the space of one year. 

Such being the metamorphoses and habits of these insects, it is 
evident that we cannot attack them in the egg, the grub, or the 
pupa state ; the enemy, in these stages, is beyond our reach. 
When they appear as bugs they must be crushed, scalded, or 
burned, to deprive them of life, for they are not affected by any of 
the applications usually found destructive to other insects. Expe- 
rience has proved the utility of gathering them by hand, or of sha- 
king them or brushing them from the plants into tin vessels con- 
taining a little water. They should be collected daily during the 
period of their visitation, and should be committed to the flames, 
or killed by scalding water. 



84 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

Our insect-eating birds undoubtedly devour many of these in- 
sects, and deserve to be cherished and protected for their services. 
Rose-bugs are also eaten greedily by domesticated fowls ; and when 
they become exhausted and fall to the ground, or when they are 
about to lay their eggs, they are destroyed by moles, insects, and 
other animals, which lie in wait to seize them. 

Pea Bug. — In the spring of the year we often find, among seed- 
pease, many that have holes in them ; and, if the pease have not 
been exposed to the light and air, we see a little insect peeping 
out of each of these holes, and waiting apparently for an opportu- 
nity to come forth and make its escape. If we turn out the crea- 
ture from its cell, we perceive it to be a small oval beetle, rather 
more than one-tenth of an inch long, of a rusty black color, with a 
white spot on the hinder jpart of the thorax, four or five white dots 
behind the- middle of each wing-cover, and a white spot, shaped 
like the letter T, on the exposed extremity of the body. This little 
insect is the Bruchus Pisi of Linnaeus, the pea-Bruchus, or pea-wee- 
vil, but is better known in America by the incorrect name of pea- 
buff. The original meaning of the word Bruchus is a devourer, 
and the insects to which it is applied well deserve this name, for, 
in the larva state, they devour the interior of seeds, often leaving 
but little more than the hull untouched. The body is oval, and 
slightly convex ; the head is bent downwards, so that the broad 
muzzle, when the insects are not eating, rests upon the breast ; the 
antennae are short, straight, and- saw-toothed within, and are in- 
serted clovse to a deep notch in each of the eyes ; the feelers, though 
very small, are visible ; the wing-cases do not cover the end of the 
abdomen ; and the hindmost thighs are very thick, and often 
notched or toothed on the under-side, as is the case in the pea-wee- 
vil. These beetles frequent the leguminous or pod-bearing plants, 
such as the pea, during and immediately after the flowering season ; 
they pierce the tender pods of these plants, and commonly lay only 
one egg in each seed, the pulp of which suffices for the food of the 
little maggot-like grub hatched therein. 

When the pods are carefully examined, small, discolored spots 
may be seen within them, each one corresponding to a similar spot 
on the opposite pea. If this spot in the pea be opened, a minute 
whitish grub, destitute of feet, will be found therein. It is the 
weevil in its larva form, which lives upon the marrow of the pea, 
and arrives at its full size by the time that the pea becomes dry. 
This larva or grub then bores a round hole from the hollow in the 



INSECTS. 85 

centre of the pea quite to the hull, but leaves the latter and gene- 
rally the germ of the future sprout untouched. Hence these buggy- 
pease, as they are called by seedsmen and gardeners, will frequently 
sprout and grow when planted. The grub is changed to a pupa 
within its hole in the pea in the autumn, and before the spring 
casts its skin again, becomes a beetle, and gnaws a hole through 
the thin hull in order to make its escape into the air, which fre- 
quently does not happen before the pease are planted for an early 
crop. After the pea-vines have flowered, and while the pods are 
young and tender, and the pease within them are just beginning to 
swell, the beetles gather upon them, pierce the pods, and deposit 
their tiny eggs in the punctures. This is done only during the 
night, or in cloudy weather. Each egg is always placed opposite 
to a pea ; the grubs, as soon as they are hatched, penetrate the 
pod and bury themselves in the pease ; and the holes through 
which they pass are so fine as hardly to be perceived, and are soon 
closed. Sometimes every pea in a pod will be found to contain a 
weevil grub ; and so great has been the injury to the crop in some 
parts of the country that the inhabitants have been obliged to give 
up the cultivation of this vegetable. These insects diminish the 
weight of the pease in which they lodge, nearly one-half, and their 
leavings are fit only for the food of swine. This occasions a great 
loss, where pease are raised for feeding stock or for family use, as 
they are in many places. Those persons, who eat whole pease in 
the winter after they are raised, run the risk of eating the weevils 
also ; but if the pease are kept till they are a year old, the insects 
will entirely leave them. 

One remedy consists merely in keeping seed-pease in tight ves- 
sels over one year before planting them, or putting them, just be- 
fore they are to be planted, into hot water for a minute or two, by 
which means the weevils will be killed, and the sjDrouting of the 
pease will be quickened. The insect is limited to a certain period 
lor depositing its eggs ; late sown pease therefore escape its attacks. 
Those sown in Pennsylvania as late as the twentieth of May, are 
entirely free from weevils. 

The Apple-Worm. — Among the insects, that have been brought 
to America with other productions of Europe, may be mentioned 
the apple-worm, as it is here called, which has become naturalized 
wherever the apple-tree has been introduced. This mischievous 
creature has sometimes been mistaken for the plum-w^eevil {Rhyn- 
chcenus Conotrachdus Nenuphar), but it may be easily distinguished 



Bfl TTTE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

therefrom by its shape, its habits, and its transformations. Although 
the plum-weevil prefers stone fruit, it is sometimes found in apples 
also. On the other hand, the apple-worm has never been found 
here in plums. It is not a grub, but a true caterpillar, belonging 
to the Tortrix tribe, and in due time, is changed to a moth, called 
Oarpocapsa Pomonclla, the codling-moth, or fruit-moth of the 
apple. This moth is the most beautiful of the beautiful tribe to 
which it belongs ; yet, from its habits not being known, it is seldom 
seen in the moth state ; and the apple-grower knows no more than 
the man in the moon to what cause he is indebted for his worm- 
eaten windfalls in the stillest w T eather. 




APPLE-MOTH. 

At various times, between the middle of June and the first of 
July, the apple-w r orm moths may be found. They are sometimes 
seen in houses in the evening, trying to get through the windows 
into the open air, having been brought in with fruit while they were 
in the caterpillar state. Their fore-wings, when seen at a distance, 
have somewhat the appearance of brown watered silk ; when close- 
ly examined they will be found to be crossed by numerous gray 
and brown lines, scalloped like the plumage of a bird ; and near 
the hind angle there is a large, oval, dark brown spot, the edges of 
which are of a bright copper color. The head and thorax are brown 
mingled with gray ; and the hind-wings and abdomen are light 
yellowish brown, with the lustre of satin. Its wings expand three 
quarters of an inch. This insect is readily distinguished frcm other 
moths by the large, oval, brown spot, edged w T ith copper color, on 
the hinder margin of each of the fore-wings. During the latter 



INSECTS. 87 

part of June and the month of July, these fruit-moths fly about 
apple trees every evening, and lay their eggs on the young fruit. 
They do not puncture the apples, but they drop their eggs, one by 
one, in the eye or hollow at the blossom-end of the fruit, where the 
skin is most tender. They seem also to seek for early fruit rather 
than for the late kinds, which we find are not so apt to be wormy 
as the thin-skinned summer apples. The eggs begin to hatch in a 
few days after they are laid, and the little apple-worms or cater- 
pillars produced from them immediately burrow into the apples, 
making their way gradually from the eye towards the core. Com- 
monly only one worm will be found in the same apple ; and it is 
so small at first, that its presence can only be detected by the 
brownish powder it throws out in eating its way through the eye. 
The body of the young insect is of a whitish color ; its head is 
heart-shaped and black ; the top of the first ring or collar and of 
the last ring is also black ; and there are eight little blackish dots 
or warts, arranged in pairs, on each of the other rings. As it grows 
older its body becomes flesh-colored ; its head, the collar, and the 
top of the last wing, turn brown, and the dots are no longer to be 
seen. In the course of three weeks, or a little more, it comes to its 
full size, and meanwhile has burrowed to the core and through the 
apple in various directions. To get rid of the refuse fragments of 
its food, it gnaws a round hole through the side of the apple, and 
thrusts them out of the opening. Through this hole also the in- 
sect makes its escape after the apple falls to the ground ; and the 
falling of the fruit is well known to be hastened by the injury it 
has received within, which generally causes it to ripen before its 
time. 

Soon after the half-grown apples drop, and sometimes while they 
are still hanging, the worms leave them and creep into chinks in 
the bark of the trees or into other sheltered places, which they hol- 
low out with their teeth to suit their shape. Here each one spins 
for itself a cocoon or silken case, as thin, delicate, and white as tis- 
sue paper. Most of the insects remain in their cocoons through 
the winter, and are not changed to moths till the following summer. 
The chrysalis is of a bright mahogany-brown color, and has, as 
usual, across each of the rings of its hind body, two rows of prickles, 
by the help of which it forces its way through the cocoon before 
the moth comes forth. 

As the apple-worms instinctively leave the fruit soon after it falls 
from the trees, it will be proper to gather up all wind-fallen apples 



SS THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

daily, and make such immediate use of them as will be sure to kill 
the insects, before they have time to escape. If any old cloth is 
wound around or hung in the crotches of the trees, the apple- worms 
will conceal themselves therein ; and by this means thousands of 
them maybe obtained and destroyed, from the lime when they first 
begin to Leave the apples, until the fruit is gathered. By carefully 
scraping off the loose and rugged bark of the trees, in the spring, 
many ehrysalids will be destroyed ; and it has been said that the 
moths, when about laying their eggs, may be smothered or driven 
away, by the smoke of weeds burned under the trees. The worms, 
often found in summer pears, appear to be the same as those that 
affect apples, and are to be kept in check by the same means. 




i 

APPLE-TREE BORER. 

Apple Tree Borers. — The borers of the apple tree have become 
notorious for their extensive ravages. They are the larvse of a 
beetle called , Saperda bivittata, the two-striped, or the brown and 
white striped Saperda ; the upper side of its body being marked 
with two longitudinal white stripes between three of a light brown 
color, while the face, the antennas, the under-side of the body, and 
the legs, are white. This beetle varies in length from a little more 
than one-half to three-quarters of an inch. It comes forth from the 
trunks of the trees, in its perfected state, early in June, making its 
escape in the night, during which time only it uses its ample wings 
in going from tree to tree in search of companions and food. In 
the day-time it keeps at rest among the leaves of the plants which 
it devours. Among the trees and shrubs attacked by this borer, 
are the apple tree, the quince, mountain-ash, hawthorn, and other 
thorn bushes. In June and July the eggs are deposited, being laid 
upon the bark near the root, during the night. The larvae are 
fleshy whitish grubs, nearly cylindrical, and tapering a little from 
the first ring to the end of the body. The head is small, horny, 
and brown ; the first ring is much larger than the others, the next 



INSECTS. 89 

two are very short, and, with the first, are covered with punctures 
and very minute hairs ; the following rings, to the tenth inclusive, 
are each furnished, on the upper and under side, with two fleshy 
warts situated close together, and destitute of the little rasp-like 
teeth, that are usually found on the grubs of the other Capricorn- 
beetles ; the eleventh and twelfth rings are very short ; no appear- 
ance of legs can be seen, even with a magnifying glass of high 
power. The grub, with its strong jaws, cute a cylindrical passage 
through the bark, and pushes its eastings backwards out of the hole 
from time to time, while it bores upwards into the wood. The 
larva state continues two or three years, during which the borer 
will be found to have penetrated eight or ten inches upwards in 
the trunk of the tree, its burrow at the end approaching to, and 
being covered only by, the bark. Here its transformation takes 
place. The final change occurs about the first of June, soon after 
which, the beetle gnaws through the bark that covers the end of its 
burrow, and comes out of its place of confinement in the night. 
Killing it by a wire thrust into the holes it has made, is one of the 
oldest, safest, and most successful methods. Cutting out the grub, 
with a knife or gouge, is the most common practice ; but it is 
feared that these tools have sometimes been used without sufficient 
caution. A third method, which has more than once been sug- 
gested, consists in plugging the holes with soft wood. If a little 
camphor be previously inserted, this practice promises to be more 
effectual ; but experiments are wanting to confirm its expediency. 

Turxip Fly or Beetle. — The wavy-striped flea-beetle, Haltica 
striolata, may be seen in great abundance on the horse-radish, va- 
rious kinds of cresses, and on the mustard, and turnip, early in 
May, and indeed at other times throughout the summer. It is very 
injurious to young plants, destroying their seed-leaves as soon as 
the latter expand. Should it multiply to any extent, it may, in 
time, become as great a pest as the European turnip flea-beetle, 
which it closely resembles in its appearance, and in all its habits. 
It is considerably less than one-tenth of an inch in length. It is 
of a polished black color, with a broad wavy buff-colored stripe on 
each wing-cover, and the knees and feet are reddish yellow. Spe- 
cimens are sometimes found having two buff-yellow spots on each 
wing-cover instead of the wavy stripe. 

In England, where the ravages of the turnip flea-beetle have at- 
tracted great attention, and have caused many and various experi- 
ments to be tried with a view of checking them, it is thought that 



90 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

M the careful and systematic use oi lime will obviate, in a great de- 
gree, the danger which lias been experienced" from this insect. 
From this and other statements in favor of the use o( lime, there is 
good reason to hope that it will effectually protect plants from the 
various kinds of flea-beetles, if dusted over them, when wet with 
dew, in proper season. Watering plants with alkaline solutions, it 
- - id, will kill the insects without injuring- the plants. The solu- 
tion may be made by dissolving one pound of hard soap in twelve 
gallons of the soap-suds Left after washing. This mixture should 
be applied twice a day with a water-pot. Kollar very highly rec- 
ommends watering or wetting the leaves of plants with an infusion 
or tea of wormwood, which prevents the flea-beetles from touching 
them. Perhaps a decoction of walnut-leaves might be equally ser- 
viceable. Great numbers of the beetles may be caught by the skil- 
ful use of a deep bag-net of muslin, which should be swept over the 
plants infested by the beetles, after which the latter may be easily 
destroyed. This net cannot be used with safety to catch the in- 
sects on very young plants, on account of the risk of bruising or 
breaking their tender leaves. 

Potato Fly. — Occasionally potato-vines are very much infested 
by two or three kinds of Cantharides, or blistering flies, swarms 
of which, attack and destroy the leaves during midsummer. One 
of these kinds has thereby obtained the name of the potato-fly, It 
is the Cantharis vittata, or striped Cantharis. It is of a dull tawny 
yellow or light yellowish red color above, with two black spots on 
the head, and two black stripes on the thorax and on each of the 
wing-covers. The under-side of the body, the legs, and the an- 
tennae are black, and covered with a grayish down. Its length is 
from five to six tenths of an inch. The thorax is very much nar- 
rowed before, and the wing-covers are long and narrow, and cover 
the whole of the back. The striped Cantharis is comparatively rare 
in Xew England ; but in the Middle States it often appeal's in great 
numbers, and does much mischief in potato-fields and gardens, eat- 
ing up not only the leaves of the potato, but those of many other 
ibles. 

Another kind of blistering fly is the ash-colored Cantharis. 
When the insect is rubbed, the ash-colored substance comes off, 
leaving the surface black. It begins to appear in gardens about 
the twentieth of June, and is very fond of the leaves of the English 
bean, which it sometimes entirely destroys. It is also occasionally 
found in considerable numbers on potato-vines ; and it has repeat- 



INSECTS. 91 

edly appeared in great profusion upon the honey-locust, which lias 
been entirely stripped of foliage by these voracious insects. In the 
night, and in rainy weather, they descend from the plants, and 
burrow in the ground, or under leaves and tufts of grass. Thither 
also they retire for shelter during the heat of the day, being most 
actively engaged in eating in the morning and evening. About 
the lirst of August they go into the ground and lay their eggs, and 
these are hatched in the course of one month. The larvae are slen- 
der, somewhat flattened grubs, of a yellowish color, banded with 
black, with a small reddish head, and six legs. These grubs are 
very active in their motions, and appear to live upon fine roots in 
the ground. 

About the middle of August, and during the rest of this and the 
following month, a jet-black Cantharis may be seen on potato- 
vines, and also on the blossoms and leaves of various kinds of 
golden-rod, particularly the tall golden-rod (Solidago altissima), 
which seems to be its favorite food. In some places it is as plen- 
tiful in potato fields as the striped and the margined Cantharis, 
and by its serious ravages has often excited attention. These three 
kinds, in fact, are often confounded under the common name of po- 
tato-flies. These insects are taken, in considerable quantities, by 
brushing or shaking them from the potato-vines into a broad tin 
pan, from which they are emptied into a covered ^)ail containing 
a little water in it, which, by wetting their wings, prevents their 
flying out when the pail is uncovered. The same method may 
be employed for taking the other kinds of Cantharides, when they 
become troublesome and destructive from then* numbers ; or they 
may be caught by gently sweeping the plants they frequent with a 
deep muslin bag-net. They should be killed by throwing them 
into scalding water, for one or two minutes, after which they may 
be spread out on sheets of paper to dry, and may be made profit- 
able by selling them to the apothecaries for medical use. 

Gkasshoppees and Locusts. — Most grasshoppers are of a green 
color, and are furnished with wings and wing-ccvers, the latter fre- 
quently resembling the leaves of trees, upon which, indeed, many 
of these insects pass the greater part of their lives. Their leaf-like 
form and green color evidently seem to have been designed for the 
better concealment of these insects. They commit their eggs to 
the earth, dropping them into holes made for this purpose by their 
piercers. They lay a large number of eggs at a time, and cover 
them with a kind, of varnish, which, when dry, forms a thin film 



92 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

that completely encloses them. Their eggs are laid in the autumn, 

and usually are not hatched till the following spring. They are 

nocturnal insects, or at least more active by night than by clay. 
When taken between the fingers, they emit from their mouths a 
considerable quantity of dark-colored fluid, as do also the locusts or 
diurnal grasshoppers. They devour the leaves of trees, and of other 
plants, and lead a solitary life, or at least do not associate and mi- 
grate from place to place in great swarms, like, some of the crickets 
and the locusts. 

Locusts. — The various insects included under the name of locusts 
nearly all agree in having their wing-covers rather long and narrow, 
and placed obliquely along the sides of the body, meeting, and even 
overlapping for a short distance, at their upper edges, which to- 
gether form a ridge on the back like a sloping roof. Their antennae 
are much shorter than those of most grasshoppers, and do not 
taper towards the end, but are nearly of equal thickness at both 
extremities. Their feet have really only three joints ; but as the 
under-side of the first joint is marked by one or two cross lines, 
the feet, when seen only from below, seem to be four or five jointed. 

Although the ravages of locusts in America are not followed by 
such serious consequences as in the Eastern continent, yet they are 
sufficiently formidable to have attracted attention, and not unfre- 
quently have tn*ese insects laid waste considerable tracts, and oc- 
casioned no little loss to the cultivator of the soil. Our salt-marshes, 
which are accounted among the most productive and valuable of 
our natural meadows, are frequented by great numbers of the small 
red-legged species (Acrydium femar-riibrum), intermingled occa- 
sionally with, some larger kinds. These, in certain seasons, almost 
entirely consume trie grass of these marshes, from whence they 
then take their course to the uplands, devouring, in their way, 
grass, corn, and vegetables, till checked by the early frosts, or by 
the close of the natural term of their existence. "When a scanty 
crop of hay has been gathered from the grounds which these puny 
pests have ravaged, it becomes so tainted with the putrescent bodies 
of the dead locusts contained in it, that it is rejected by horses and 
cattle. In this country locusts are not distinguished from grass- 
hoppers, and are generally, though incorrectly, comprehended un- 
der the same name, or under that of flying grasshoppers. They 
are, however, if we make allowance for their inferior size, quite as 
voracious and injurious to vegetation during the young or larva and 
pupa states, when they are not provided with wings, as they are 



INSECTS. 93 

when fully grown. During dry seasons, they often appear in great 
multitudes, and are the greedy destroyers of the half-parched her- 
bage. In many parts of the United States these locusts appear in 
myriads, and their devastations in dry seasons are horrible. The 
locusts may be taken by means of a piece of stout cloth, carried by 
four persons, two of whom draw it rapidly along, so that the edge 
may sweep over the surface of the soil, and the two others hold up 
the cloth behind at an angle of forty-five degrees. This contrivance 
seems to operate somewhat like a horse-rake, in gathering the in- 
sects into winrows or heaps, from which they are speedily trans- 
ferred to large sacks. When these insects are very prevalent, it 
will be advisable to mow the grass early, so as to secure a crop be- 
fore it has suffered much loss. The time for doing this will be de- 
termined by the period when the most destructive species come to 
maturity during the latter part of July. If then, the meadows are 
mowed about the first of July, the locusts, being at that time small 
and not provided with wings, will be unable to migrate, and will 
consequently perish on the ground for the want of food, while a 
tolerable crop of hay will be secured, and the marshes will suffer 
less from the insects during the following summer. This, like all 
other preventive measures, must be generally adopted, in order to 
prove effectual ; for it will avail a farmer but little to take preven- 
tive measures on his own land, if his neighbors, who are equally 
exposed and interested, neglect to do the same. Many birds de- 
vour them, particularly our domestic fowls, which eat great num- 
bers of grasshoppers, locusts, and even crickets. Young turkeys, if 
allowed to go at large during the summer, derive nearly the whole 
of their subsistence from these insects. The great increase of these 
and other noxious insects may fairly be attributed to the extermi- 
nating war which has wantonly been waged upon our insect-eating 
birds, and we may expect the evil to increase unless these little 
friends of the farmer are protected, or left undisturbed to multiply, 
and follow their natural habits. Meanwhile, some advantage may 
be derived from encouraging the breed of our domestic fowls. A 
flock of young chickens or turkeys, if suffered to go at large in a 
garden, while the mother is confined within their sight and hear- 
ing, under a suitable crate or cage, will devour great numbers of 
destructive insects ; and our farmers should be urged to pay more 
attention than heretofore to the rearing of chickens, young turkeys, 
and ducks, with a view to the benefits to be derived from their de- 
struction of insects. 



94 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

Plant Lice. — The Aphidians, in which group we include the 
insects commonly known by the name of plant-lice, differ remark- 
ably from all the foregoing in their appearance, their formation, and 
their manner of increase. Their bodies are very soft, and usually 
more or less oval. 

Aphides, or plant-lice as they are usually called, are among the 
most extraordinary of insects. They are found upon almost all 
parts of plants, the roots, stems, young shoots, buds, and leaves, 
and there is scarcely a plant which does not harbor one or two 
kinds peculiar to itself. They are, moreover, exceedingly prolific, 
for one individual, in five generations, may become the progenitor 
of nearly six thousand millions of descendants. It often happens 
that the succulent extremities and stems of plants will, in an in- 
credibly short space of time, become completely coated with a liv- 
ing mass of these little lice. These are usually wingless, consisting 
of the young and of the females only ; for winged individuals ap- 
pear only at particular seasons, usually in the autumn, but some- 
times in the spring, and these are small males and larger females. 
After pairing, the latter lay their eggs upon or near the leaf-buds 
of the plant upon which they live, and, together with the males, 
soon afterwards perish. 

The winged plant-lice provide for a succession of their race by 
stocking the plants with eggs in the autumn. These are hatched 
in due time in the spring, and the young lice immediately begin to 
pump up sap from the tender leaves and shoots, increase rapidly in 
size, and in a short time come to maturity. In this state, it is found 
that the brood, without a single exception, consists wholly of fe- 
males, which are wingless, but are in a condition immediately to 
continue their kind. Their young, however, are not hatched from 
eggs, but are produced alive, and each female may be the mother 
of fifteen or twenty young lice in the course of a single day. The 
plant-lice of this second generation are also wingless females, which 
grow up and. have their young in due time ; and thus brood after 
brood is produced, even to the seventh generation or more, without 
the appearance or intervention, throughout the whole season, of a 
single male. This extraordinary kind of propagation ends in the 
autumn with the birth of a brood of males and females, which in 
due time acquire wings and pair ; eggs are then laid by these fe- 
males, and with the death of these winged individuals, which soon 
follows, the race becomes extinct for the season. 

The peach-tree suffers very much from the attacks of plant-lice, 



INSECTS. 95 

which live under the leaves, causing them by their punctures to 
become thickened, to curl, or form hollows beneath, and corre- 
sponding crispy and reddish swellings above, and finally to perish 
and drop off prematurely. The depredations of these lice is one 
of the causes, if not the only cause of the peculiar malady affecting 
the peach-tree in the early part of summer, and called the blight. 
Plant-lice produce a blight of apple-trees occasionally. 

The injuries occasioned by plant-lice are much greater than would 
at first be expected from the small size and extreme weakness of 
the insects ; but these make up by their numbers what they want 
in strength individually, and thus become formidable enemies to 
vegetation. By their punctures, and the quantity of sap which they 
draw from the leaves, the functions of these important organs are 
deranged or interrupted, the food of the plant, which is there elab- 
orated to nourish the stem and mature the fruit, is withdrawn, 
before it can reach its proper destination, or is contaminated and 
left in a state unfitted to supply the wants of vegetation. Plants 
are differently affected by these insects. Some wither and cease 
to grow, their leaves and stems put on a sickly appearance, and 
soon die from exhaustion. Others, though not killed, are greatly 
impeded in their growth, and their tender parts, which are attacked, 
become stunted, curled, or warped. The punctures of these lice 
seem to poison some plants, and affect others in a most singular 
manner, producing warts or swellings, which are sometimes solid 
and sometimes hollow, and contain in their interior a swarm of lice, 
the descendants of a single individual, whose punctures were the 
original cause of the tumor. 

When trees are infected, scrape off all the rough bark of the in- 
fected trees, and make them perfectly clean and smooth early in 
the spring ; then rub the trunk and limbs with a stiff brush wet 
with a solution of potash as hereafter recommended for the destruc- 
tion of bark- lice ; after which remove the sods and earth around 
the bottom of the trunk, and with the scraper, brush, and alkaline 
liquor cleanse that part as far as the roots can conveniently be un- 
covered. The earth and sods should immediately be carried away, 
fresh loam should be placed around the roots, and all cracks and 
wounds should be filled with grafting cement or clay mortar. 
Small limbs and extremities of branches, if infected, and beyond 
reach of the applications, should be cut off and burned. 

This insect is mischievous and destructive to well grown and 
ripening grass plants ; its minute character has allowed it to escape 



96 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

the notice of the farmers generally, until recently, when its ravages 
on grass fields, reserved for hay, have exhibited their depreda- 
tions, brown spots or areas, the herbage having been destroyed by 
these voracious creatures ; these minute insects are countless in 
number, and need the observance and study of every careful 
farmer. 

Bark-Lice. — These insects vary very much in form ; some of 
them are oval and slightly convex scales, and others have the shape 
of a muscle ; some are quite convex, and either formed, like a boat 
turned bottom upwards, or are kidney shaped, or globular. They 
live mostly on the bark of the stems of plants, some however, are 
habitually found upon leaves, and some on roots. Early in the 
spring the bark-lice are found apparently torpid, situated longitu- 
dinally in regard to the branch, the head upwards, and sticking by 
their flattened inferior surface closely to the bark. On attempting 
to remove them they are generally crushed, and there issues from 
the body a dark colored fluid. By pricking them w T ith a pin, they 
can be male to quit their hold. A little later the body is more 
swelled, and, on carefully raising it wdth a knife, numerous oblong 
eggs will be discovered beneath it, and the insect appears dried up 
and dead, and only its outer skin remains, which forms a convex 
cover to its future progeny. Under this protecting shield the 
young are hatched, and, on the approach of warm w T eather, make 
their escape at the lower end of the shield, which is either slightly 
elevated or notched at this part. They then move with consider- 
able activity, and disperse themselves over the young shoots or 
leaves. These young lice insert their beaks into the bark or leaves, 
and draw from the cellular substance the sap that nourishes them. 
Young apple trees, and the extremities of the limbs of older trees 
are very much subject to the attacks of a small species of bark- 
louse. The limbs and smooth parts of the trunks are sometimes 
completely covered with these insects, and present a very singularly 
wrinkled and rough appearance from the bodies which are crowded 
closely together. In the winter these insects are torpid, and appa- 
rently dead. These insects have now become extremely common, 
and infest our nurseries and young trees to a very great extent. 

The best application for the destruction of the lice is a wash 
made of two parts of soft soap and eight of w T ater, with which is to 
be mixed lime enough to bring it to the consistence of thick white- 
wash. This is to be put upon the trunks and limbs of the trees 
with a brush, and as high as practicable, so as to cover the whole 



INSECTS. 97 

surface, and fill all the cracks in the bark. The proper time for 
washing over the trees is in the early part of June, when the in- 
sects are young and tender. These insects may also be killed by 
using in the same way a solution of two pounds of potash in seven 
quarts of water, or a pickle consisting of a quart of common salt in 
two gallons of water. 

Peach Tree Borer. — The pernicious borer, which, during many 
years past, has proved very destructive to peach-trees throughout 
the United States, is a species of JEgeria, named exitiosa, or the de- 
structive. The eggs, from which these borers are hatched, are de- 
posited, in the course of the summer, upon the trunk of the tree 
near the root ; the borers penetrate the bark, and devour the inner 
bark and sap-wood. The seat of their operations is known by the 
castings and gum which issue from the holes in the tree. When 
these borers are nearly one year old, they make their cocoons either 
under the bark of the trunk or of the root, or in the earth and gum 
contiguous to the base of the trees ; soon afterwards they are trans- 
formed to chrysalids, and finally come forth in the winged state, 
and lay the eggs for another generation of borers. The last trans- 
formation takes place from June to October. Hence borers, of all 
sizes, will be found in the trees throughout the year, although it 
seems to be necessary that all of them, whether more or less ad- 
vanced, should pass through one winter before they appear in the 
winged state. 

As a remedy remove the earth around the base of the tree, 
crush and destroy the cocoons and borers which may be found in 
it, and under the bark, cover the wounded parts with common clay 
composition or mortar, and surround the trunk with a strip of 
sheathing-paper eight or nine inches wide, which should extend 
two inches below the level of the soil, and be secured with strings 
of matting above. Fresh mortar should then be placed around the 
root, so as to confine the paper and prevent access beneath it, and 
the remaining cavity may be filled with new or unexhausted loam. 
This operation should be performed in the spring or during the 
month of June. In the winter the strings may be removed, and 
in the following spring the trees should again be examined for any 
borers that may have escaped search before, and the protecting ap- 
plications should be renewed. 
5 



98 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 



CATERPILLARS. 



Yellow Bear Caterpillar. — Of all the hairy caterpillars fre- 
quenting our gardens, there are none so common and troublesome 
in the Northern States as that called the yellow bear by Harris. 
Like most ot its genus it is a very general feeder, devouring almost 
all kinds of herbaceous plants, with equal relish, from the broad- 
leaved plantain at the door-side, the peas, beans, and even the 
flowers of the garden, and the corn and coarse grasses of the fields, 
to the leaves of the vine, the currant, and the gooseberry, which it 
does not refuse when pressed by hunger. This kind of caterpillar 
varies very much in its colors ; it is perhaps most often of a pale 
yellow or straw color, with a black line along each side of the body, 
and a transverse line of the same color between each of the seg- 
ments or rings, and it is covered with long pale yellow hairs. 
Others are often seen of a rusty or brownish yellow color, with the 
same black lines on the sides and between the rings, and they are 
clothed with foxy red or light brown hairs. The head and ends of 
the feet are ochre-yellow, and the under-side of the body is blackish 
in all the varieties. They are to be found of different ages and 
sizes from the first of June till October. When fully grown they 
are about two inches long, and then creep into some convenient 
place of shelter, make their cocoons, in which they remain in the 
chrysalis state during the winter, and are changed to moths in the 
months of May or June following. Some of the first broods of 
these caterpillars appear to come to their growth early in summer, 
and are transformed to moths by the end of July or the beginning 
of August, at which time I have repeatedly taken them in the 
winged state ; but the greater part pass through their last change 
in June. The moth is familiarly known by the name of the white 
miller, and is often seen about houses. Its scientific name is Arc- 
tia Virginica. It is white, with a black point on the middle of the 
fore- wings, and two black dots on the hind-wings, one on the mid- 
dle and the other near the posterior angle, much more distinct on 
the under than on the upper side ; there is a row of black dots on 
the top of the back, another on each side, and between these a lon- 
gitudinal deep yellow stripe ; the hips and thighs of the fore-legs 
are also ochre-yellow. It expands from one inch and a half to two 
inches. Pick off the caterpillars from day to clay and crush them, 
and do not spare " the pretty white millers," frequently found on 
the fences, or on the plants, laying their golden yellow eggs. 



INSECTS. 99 

The Salt-marsh Caterpillar, an insect by far too well known 
on our sea-board, and now getting to be common in the interior, 
closely resembles the yellow bear in some of its varieties. These 
appear toward the end of June, and grow rapidly from that time 
till the first of August. During this month they come to their full 
size, and begin to run, as the phrase is, or retreat from the marshes, 
and disperse through the adjacent uplands, often committing very 
extensive ravages in their progress. Corn-fields, gardens, and even 
the rank weeds by the way-side afford them temporary nourish- 
ment while wandering in search of a place of security from the tide 
and weather. They conceal themselves in walls, under stones, in 
hay-stacks and mows, in wood-piles, and in any other places in their 
way, which will afford them the proper degree of shelter during 
the winter. Here they make their coarse hairy cocoons, and change 
to chrysalids, in which form they remain till the following summer, 
and are transformed to moths in the month of June. In those 
cases where, from any cause, the caterpillars, when arrived at ma- 
turity, have been unable to leave the marshes, they conceal them- 
selves beneath the stubble, and there make their cocoons. Such, 
for the most part, is the course and duration of the lives of these 
insects in the Northern States ; but in the Middle and Southern 
States two broods are brought to perfection annually ; and even 
here some of them run through their course sooner, and produce a 
second brood of caterpillars in the same season. The full-grow r n 
caterpillar measures one inch and three quarters or more in length. 
It is clothed with long hairs, w T hich are sometimes black and some- 
times brown on the back and forepart of the body, and of a lighter 
brown color on the sides. The hairs grow in spreading clusters 
from warts, wdiich are of a yellowish color in this species. The 
body, when stripped of the hairs, is yellow, shaded at the sides 
w 7 ith black, and there is a blackish line extending along the top of 
the back. The breathing-holes are white, and very distinct even 
through the hairs. These caterpillars, when feeding on the marshes, 
are sometimes overtaken by the tide, and when escape becomes ini 
possible, they roll themselves up in a circular form, and abandon 
themselves to their fate. The hairs on their bodies seem to have a 
repelling power, and prevent the water from whetting their skins, so 
that they float on the surface, and are often carried by the waves 
to distant places, where they are thrown on shore, and left in win- 
rows with the wash of the sea. After a little time most of them 
recover from their half-drow r ned condition, and begin their depre- 



100 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

dations anew. In this way these insects seem to have spread from 
the places where they lirst appeared to others at a considerable 
distance. 

In order to lessen the ravages of the salt-marsh caterpillars, and 
I - are a fair crop of hay when these insects abound, the marshes 
should be mowed early in July, at which time the caterpillars are 
small and feeble, and being unable to wander far, will die before 
the crop is gathered in. In defence of early mowing, it may be 
said that it is the only way by which the grass may be saved in 
those meadows where the caterpillars have multiplied to any ex- 
tent ; and, if the practice is followed generally, and continued du- 
ring several years in succession, it will do much towards extermi- 
nating these destructive insects. By the practice of late mowing, 
where the caterpillars abound, a great loss in the crop will be sus- 
tained, immense numbers of caterpillars and grasshoppers will be 
left to grow to maturity and disperse upon the uplands, by which 
means the evil will go on increasing from year to year ; or they 
will be brought in with the hay to perish in our barns and stacks, 
where their dead bodies will prove offensive to the cattle, and occa- 
sion a waste of fodder. To get rid of " the old fog " or stubble, 
which becomes much thicker and longer in consequence of early 
mowing, the marshes should be burnt over in March. The roots 
of the o-rass will not be injured by burning the stubble, on the con- 
trary they will be fertilized by the ashes ; while great numbers of 
young grasshoppers, cocoons of caterpillars, and various kinds of 
destructive insects, with their eggs, concealed in the stubble, will 
be destroyed by the fire. In the Province of New Brunswick, the 
benefit arising from burning the stubble has long been proved. 

Of the caterpillars which devour the leaves of trees, the most 
common and destructive are the little caterpillars known by the 
name of fall web-worms, whose large webs, sometimes extending 
over entire branches with their leaves, may be seen on our native 
elms, and also on apple and other fruit trees, in the latter part of 
summer. The eggs, from which these caterpillars proceed, are laid 
by the parent moth in a cluster upon a leaf near the extremity of a 
branch ; they are hatched from the last of June till the middle of 
August, some broods being early and others late, and the young 
caterpillars immediately begin to provide a shelter for themselves, 
by covering the upper side of the leaf with a web, which is the 
result of the united labors of the whole brood. They feed in com- 
pany beneath this web, devouring only the upper skin and pulpy 



INSECTS. 101 

portion of the leaf, leaving the veins and lower skin of the leaf un- 
touched. As they increase in size, they enlarge their web, carry- 
ing it over the next lower leaves, all the upper and pulpy parts of 
which are eaten in the same way, and thus they continue to work 
downwards, till finally the web covers a large portion of the branch, 
with its dry, brown, and filmy foliage, reduced to this unseemly 
condition by these little spoilers. These caterpillars when fully 
grown, measure rather more than one inch in length ; their bodies 
are slender and are very thinly clothed with hairs of a grayish color, 
intermingled with a few which are black. The general color of the 
body is greenish yellow dotted with black ; there is a broad black- 
ish stripe along the top of the back, and a bright yellow stripe on 
each side. The w r arts, from which the thin bundles of spreading, 
silky hairs proceed, are black on the back, and rust-yellow or orange 
on the sides. The head and feet arc black. Towards the end of 
August and during the month of September they leave the trees, 
disperse, and wander about, eating such plants as happen to lie in 
their course, till they have found suitable places for shelter and con- 
cealment where they make their thin and almost transparent co- 
coons, composed of a slight web of silk intermingled with a few 
hairs. They remain in the cocoons in the chrysalis state through 
the w T inter, and are transformed to moths in the months of June 
and July. These moths are white, and without spots ; the fore- 
thighs are tawny-yellow, and the feet blackish. Their wings ex- 
pand from one inch and a quarter to one inch and three eighths. 
Their antennae and feelers do not differ essentially from those of the 
majority of the Arctians, the former in the males being doubly 
feathered beneath, and those of the females having two rows of mi- 
nute teeth on the under-side. The only time in which we can at- 
tempt to exterminate these destructive insects with any prospect of 
success, is when they are young and just beginning to make their 
webs on the trees. So soon, then, as the webs begin to appear on 
the extremities of the branches, they should be stripped off, with 
the few^ leaves which they cover, and the caterpillars contained 
therein, at one grasp, and should be crushed under foot. 

Apple-Tree Caterpillars. — During the months of July and 
August, there may be found on apple-trees and rose-bushes little 
slender caterpillars of a bright yellow color, sparingly clothed with 
long and fine yellow hairs on the sides of the body, and having 
four short and thick brush-like yellowish tufts on the back, that is 
on the fourth and three following rings, two long black plumes or 



102 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

pencils extending forwards from the first ring, and a single plume 
on the top of the eleventh ring. The head, and the two little re- 
tractile warts on the ninth and tenth rings are coral red ; there is 
a narrow black or brownish stripe along the top of the back, and 
a wider dusky stripe on each side of the body. These pretty cat- 
erpillars do not ordinarily herd together, but sometimes our apple- 
trees are much infested by them. When they have done eating, 
they spin their cocoons on the leaves, or on the branches or trunks 
of the trees, or on fences in the vicinity. The chrysalis is not only 
beset with little hairs or down, but has three oval clusters of branny 
scales on the back. In about eleven days after the change to the 
chrysalis is effected, the last transformation follows, and the insects 
come forth in the adult state, the females wingless, and the males 
with large ashen-gray wings, crossed by wavy darker bands on the 
upper pair, on which, moreover, is a small black spot near the tip, 
and a minute white crescent near the outer hind angle. The body 
of the male is small and slender, with a row of little tufts along 
the back, and the wings expand one inch and three eighths. The 
females are of a lighter gray color than the males, their bodies are 
very thick, and of an oblong oval shape, and, though seemingly 
wingless, upon close examination two little scales, or stinted wing- 
lets, can be discovered on each shoulder. These females lay their 
eggs upon the top of their cocoons, and cover them with a large 
quantity of frothy matter, which on drying becomes white and 
brittle. Different broods of these insects appear at various times in 
the course of the summer, but the greater number come to matu- 
rity and lay their eggs in the latter part of August, and the begin- 
ning of September ; and these eggs are not hatched till the follow- 
ing summer. The name of this moth is Orgyia leucostigma, the. 
white-marked Orgyia or tussock-moth. In Hovey's Gardener's 
Magazine Mr. Ives states, that on passing through an apple orchard 
in February, he " perceived nearly all the trees speckled with occa- 
sional dead leaves, adhering so firmly to the branches as to require 
considerable force to dislodge them. Each leaf covered a small 
patch of from one to two hundred eggs, united together, as well as 
to the leaf, by a gummy and silken fibre, peculiar to the moth." 
In March he "visited the same orchard, and, as an experiment, 
cleared three trees, from which he took twenty-one bunches of eggs. 
The remainder of the trees he left untouched until the tenth of May f 
when he found the caterpillars were hatched from the eggs, and had 
commenced their slow but sure ravages. He watched them from 



INSECTS. 103 

time to time, until many branches had been spoiled of their leaves, 
and in the autumn were entirely destitute of fruit ; while the three 
trees, which had been stripped of the eggs, were flush with foliage, 
each limb, without exception, ripening its fruit.*' These pertinent 

remarks point out the nature and extent of the evil, and su< 
the proper remedy to be used against the ravages of these b - 

Lackey Caterpillar. — There is a kind of caterpillars that swarm 
in the unpinned nurseries and neglected orchards of the slovenly 
husbandman, and hang their many-coated webs upon the wild cherry 
trees that are suffered to spring up unchecked by the way-side and 
encroach upon the borders of our pastures and fields. The eggs 
from which they arc hatched, are placed around the ends of the 
branches, forming a wide kind of ring or bracelet, consisting of three 
or four hundred eggs, in the form of short cylinders standing on 
their ends close together, and covered with a thick coat of brownish 
water-proof varnish. The caterpillars come forth, with the unfold- 
ing of the leaves of the apple and cherry tree, during the latter 
part of April or the beginning of May. The first signs of their 
activity appear in the formation of a little angular web or tent, 
somewhat resembling a spider's web, stretched between the forks 
of the branches a little below the cluster of eo-o-$. Under the shel- 
ter of these tents, in making which they all work together, the 
caterpillars remain concealed at all times when not engaged in eat- 
ing. In crawling from twig to twig and from leaf to leaf, they 
spin from their mouths a slender silken thread, which is a clue to 
conduct them back to their tents ; and as they go forth and return 
in files, one after another, their pathways in time become well car- 
peted with silk, which serves to render their footing secure during 
their frequent and periodical journeys in various directions, to and 
from their common habitation. As they increase in age and size, 
they enlarge their tent, surrounding it, from time to time, with new 
layers or webs, till, at length, it acquires a diameter of eight or ten 
inches. They come out together at certain stated hours to eat, and 
all retire at once when then- regular meals are finished ; during 
bad weather, however, they fast, and do not venture from their 
shelter. These caterpillars are of a kind called lackeys. When 
fully grown they measure about two inches in length. Their heads 
are black ; extending along the top of the back, from one end to 
the other, is a whitish line, on each side of which, on a yellow 
ground, are numerous short and fine crinkled black lines, that, 
lower down, become mingled together, and form a broad lono-itu- 



104 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

dinal black stripe, or rather a row of long black spots, one on each 
ring, in the middle of each of which is a small blue spot ; below 
this is a narrow wavy yellow line, and lower still the sides are va- 
riegated with line intermingled black and yellow lines, which are 
lost at last in the general dusky color of the under-side of the body; 
on the top of the eleventh ring is a small blackish and hairy wart, 
and the whole body is very sparingly clothed with short and soft 
hairs, rather thicker and longer upon the sides than elsewhere. 
From the first to the middle of June they begin to leave the trees 
upon which they have hitherto lived in company, separate from 
each other, wander about awhile, and finally get into some crevice 
or other place of shelter, and make their cocoons. These are of a 
regular long oval form, composed of a thin and very loosely woven 
web of silk, the meshes of which are filled with a thin paste, that 
on drying is changed to a yellow powder, like flour of sulphur in 
appearance. Some of the caterpillars, either from weakness or some 
other cause, do not leave their nests with the rest of the swarm, 
but make their cocoons there, and when the webs are opened these 
cocoons may be seen intermixed with a mass of blackish grains, like 
gunpowder, excreted by the caterpillars during their stay. From 
fourteen to seventeen days after the insect has made its cocoon and 
changed to a chrysalis, it bursts its chrysalis skin, forces its way 
through the wet and softened end of its cocoon, and appears in the 
winged or miller form. 

The moth of the lackey-caterpillar is of a rusty or reddish brown 
color, more or less mingled with gray on the middle and base of 
the fore-wings, which, besides, are crossed by two oblique, straight, 
dirty white lines. It expands from one inch and a quarter, to one 
inch and a half, or a little more. The moths appear in great num- 
bers in July, flying about and often entering houses by night. At 
this time they lay their eggs, selecting the wild cherry, in prefer- 
ence to all other trees, for this purpose, and, next to these, apple- 
trees. These insects, because they are the most common and most 
abundant in all parts of our country, and have obtained such noto- 
riety that in common language they are almost exclusively known 
among us by the name of the caterpillars, are the worst enemies of 
the orchard. Where proper attention has not been paid to the 
destruction of them, they prevail to such an extent as almost en- 
tirely to strip the apple and cherry trees of their foliage, by their 
attacks continued during the seven weeks of their life in the cater- 
pillar form. The trees, in those orchards and gardens where they 



INSECTS. 105 

have been suffered to breed for a succession of years, become pre- 
maturely old, in consequence of the efforts they are obliged to 
make to repair, at an unseasonable time, the loss of their foliage, 
and are rendered unfruitful, and consequently unprofitable. But 
this is not all ; these pernicious insects spread in every direction, 
from the trees of the careless and indolent, to those of their more 
careful and industrious neighbors, whose labors are thereby greatly 
increased, and have to be followed up year after year, without any 
prospect of permanent relief. 

Many methods and receipts for the destruction of these insects 
have been published and recommended, but have foiled to exter- 
minate them, and indeed have done but little to lessen their num- 
bers. The great difficulty is the neglect to do any thing, till after 
the caterpillars have covered the trees with their nests. Then the 
labors of the sluggard commence, and one tree, let his receipt be 
ever so perfect and powerful, will cost him as much time and labor 
as ten trees would have required three weeks sooner. The means 
to be employed may be stated under three heads. The first is, the 
collection and destruction of the eggs. These should be sought for 
in the winter and the early part of spring, when there are no leaves 
on the trees. They are easily discovered at this time, and may be 
removed with the thumb-nail and fore-fiuger. Nurseries and the 
lower limbs of large trees may thus be entirely cleared of the clus- 
ters of eggs during a few visits made at the proper season. If a 
liberal bounty for the collection of the eggs were to be offered, and 
continued for the space of ten years, these destructive caterpillars 
would be nearly exterminated at the end of that time. Under the 
second head are to be mentioned the most approved plans for de- 
stroying the caterpillars after they are hatched, and have begun to 
make their nests or tents. It is well known that the caterpillars 
come out to feed twice during the day-time, namely, in the fore- 
noon and afternoon, and that they rarely leave their nests before 

nine in the morning:, and return to them again at noon.' Dunno* 
©> t © © 

the early part of the season, while the nests are small, and the cat- 
erpillars young and tender, and at those hours when the insects 
are gathered together within their common habitation, they may 
be effectually destroyed by crushing them by hand in the nests. 
A brush, somewhat like a bottle-brush, fixed to a long handle, a 
dried mullein head and its stalk fastened to a pole, will be useful 
to remove the nests, with the caterpillars contained therein, from 
those branches which are too hio-h to be reached by hand. In- 
5* 



105 THE PESTS OF THE FAR3I. 

stead of the brush, we may use, with nearly equal suecess, a small 
mop or sponge, dipped as often as necessary into a pailful of refuse 
soap-suds, strong white-wash, or cheap oil. The mop should be 
thrust into the nest and turned round a little, so as to wet the cat- 
erpillars with the liquid, which will kill every one that it touches. 
These moans, to bo effectual, should be employed during the proper 
hours, that is, early in the morning, at mid-day, or at night, and 
as soon in the spring as the caterpillars begin to make their nests ; 
and they should be repeated as often at least, as once a week, till 
the insects leave the trees. Early attention and perseverance in 
the use of these remedies will, in time, save the farmer hundreds 
of dollars, and abundance of mortification and disappointment, be- 
sides rewarding him with the grateful sight of the verdant foliage, 
snowy blossoms, and rich fruits of his orchard in their proper sea- 
sons. Under the third head, declare war against these caterpillars, 
a war of extermination, to be waged annually during the month of 
May and the beginning of June. Let every able-bodied citizen, 
who is the owner of an apple or cherry tree, cultivated or wild, 
within our borders, open the campaign in May, and give battle to 
the common enemy. If every man is prompt to do his duty, the 
enemy will be completely conquered. 

Locust-Tree Borers. — The locust-tree, Robinia pseadomcia, is 
preyed upon by three different kinds of wood-eaters or borers, whose 
unchecked ravages seem to threaten the entire destruction and ex- 
termination of this valuable tree within this part of the United 
States. One of these borers is a little reddish caterpillar, whose 
operations are confined to the small branches and to very young 
trees, in the pith of which it lives ; and by its irritation it causes 
the twig to swell around the part attacked. These swellings, being 
spongy and also perforated by the caterpillar, are weaker than the 
rest of the stem, which therefore easily breaks off at these places. 

The second kind of borer of the locust-tree is larger than the 
foregoing, is a grub, and not a caterpillar, which finally turns to the 
beetle named Clytus pictus, the painted Clytus. In the month of 
September these beetles gather on the locust-trees. Having paired, 
the female creeps over the bark, searching the crevices with her 
antennas, and dropping therein her snow-white eggs, in clusters of 
seven or eight together, and at intervals of five or six minutes, till 
her whole stock is safely stored. The eggs are soon hatched, and 
the grubs immediately burrow into the bark, devouring the soft 
inner substance that suffices for their nourishment till the approach 



INSECTS. 107 

of winter, during which they remain at rest in a torpid state. In 
the spring they bore through the sap-wood, more or less deeply into 
the trunk, the general course of their winding and irregular pas- 
sages being in an upward direction from the place of their entrance. 
For a time they cast their chips out of their holes as fast as they 
are made, but after a while the passage becomes clogged and the 
burrow more or less filled with the coarse and fibrous fragments of 
wood, to get rid of which the grubs are often obliged to open new 
holes through the bark. The seat of their operations is known by 
the oozing of the sap and the dropping of the saw-dust from the 
holes. The bark around the part attacked begins to swell, and in 
a few years the trunks and limbs will become disfigured and weak- 
ened by large porous tumors, caused by the efforts of the trees to 
repair the injuries they have suffered. The grubs attain their full 
size by the twentieth of July, soon become pupae, and are changed 
to beetles and leave the trees early in September. Thus the exist- 
ence of this species is limited to one year. 

White-washing, and covering the trunks of the trees with graft- 
ing composition, may prevent the female from depositing her eggs 
upon them ; but this practice cannot be carried to any great extent 
in plantations or large nurseries of the trees. Perhaps it will be 
useful to head or cut down young trees to the ground, with the 
view of destroying the grubs contained in them, as well as to pro- 
mote a more vigorous growth. Much evil might be prevented by 
employing children to collect the beetles while in the act of provi- 
ding for the continuation of their kind. A common black bottle, 
containing a little water, would be a suitable vessel to receive the 
beetles as fast as they were gathered, and should be emptied into 
the fire in order to destroy the insects. The gathering should be 
begun as soon as the beetles first appear, and should be continued 
as long as any are found on the trees, and furthermore should be 
made a general business for several years in succession. I have no 
doubt, should this be done, that, by devoting one hour every day 
to this object, we may, in the course of a few years, rid ourselves 
of this destructive insect. 

The third of the wood-eaters, to which the locust-tree is exposed, 
though less common than the others, and not so universally de- 
structive to the tree as the painted Clytus, is a very much larger 
borer, and is occasionally productive of great injury, especially to 
full-grown and old trees, for which it appears to have a preference. 
It is a true caterpillar, belonging to the tribe of moths under con- 



108 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

sideration, is reddish above, and white beneath, with the head and 
top of the first ring brown and shelly, and there are a few short 
hairs arising from minute warts thinly scattered over the surface of 
the body. When fully grown, it measures two inches and a half, 
or more, in length, and is nearly as thick as the end of the little 
finger. These caterpillars bore the tree in various directions, but 
for the most part obliquely upwards and downwards through the 
solid wood, enlarging the holes as they increase in size, and con- 
tinuing them through the bark to the outside of the trunk. Before 
transforming, they line these passages with a web of silk, and, re- 
tiring to some distance from the orifice, they spin around their 
bodies a closer web, or cocoon, within which they assume the chry- 
salis form. The chrysalis measures one inch and a half or two 
inches in length, is of an amber color, changing to brown on the 
forepart of the body ; and, on the upper side of each abdominal, 
ring, are two transverse rows of tooth -like projections. By the help 
of these, the insect, when ready for its last transformation, works 
its way to the mouth of its burrow, where it remains while the 
chrysalis skin is rent, upon which it comes forth on the trunk of the 
tree a winged moth. In this its j3erfected state, it is of a gray color ; 
the fore-wings are thickly covered with dusky netted lines and 
irregular spots, the hind-wings are more uniformly dusky, and the 
shoulder-covers are edged with black on the inside. It expands 
about three inches. The male, which is much smaller, and has 
been mistaken for another species, is much darker than the female, 
from which it differs also in having a large ochre-yellow spot on the 
hind- wings, contiguous to their posterior margin. Professor Peck, 
who first made public the history of this insect, named it Cossus 
JRcbinke, the Cossus of the locust-tree. It is supposed by Professor 
Peck to remain three years in the caterpillar state. The moth 
comes forth about the middle of July. 

Our fruit-trees seem to be peculiarly subject to the ravages of in- 
sects, probably because the native trees of. the forest, which origi- 
nally yielded the insects an abundance of food, have been destroyed 
to a great extent, and their places supplied only partially by orch- 
ards, gardens, and nurseries. Numerous as are the kinds of cater- 
pillars now found on cultivated trees, some are far more abundant 
than others, and therefore more often fall under our observation, 
and come to be better known. Such, for instance, are certain gre- 
garious caterpillars that swarm on the apple, cherry, and plum-trees 
towards the end of summer, stripping whole branches of their 



INSECTS. 109 

leaves, and not unfrequently despoiling our rose-bushes and thorn- 
hedges also. These caterpillars are of two kinds, very different in 
appearance, but alike in habits and destructive propensities. The 
first of these may be called the red-humped, a name that will pro- 
bably bring these insects to the remembrance of those persons who 
have ever observed them. Different broods make their appearance 
at various times during August and September. The eggs, from 
which they proceed, are laid, in the course of the month of July, 
in clusters on the under-side of a leaf, generally near the end of a 
branch. When first hatched they eat only the substance of the 
under-side of the leaf, leaving the skin of the uppeivside and all the 
veins untouched ; but as they grow larger and stronger they de- 
vour whole leaves from the point to the stalk, and go from leaf to 
leaf down the twigs and branches. The young caterpillars are 
lighter colored than the old ones, which are yellowish- brown, paler 
on the sides, and longitudinally striped with slender black lines ; 
the head is red ; on the top of the fourth ring there is a bunch or 
hump, also of a red color ; along the back are several short black 
prickles ; and the hinder extremity tapers somewhat, and is always 
elevated at an angle with the rest of the body, when the insect is 
not crawling. The full-grown caterpillars measure one inch and a 
quarter, or rather more, in length. The rest close together on the 
twigs, when not eating, and sometimes entirely cover the small 
twigs and ends of the branches. The early broods come to their 
growth and leave the trees by the middle of August, and the others 
between this time and the latter part of September. All the cat- 
erpillars of the same brood descend at one time, and disappear in 
the night. They conceal themselves under leaves, or just beneath 
the surface of the soil, and make their cocoons. They remain a 
long time in their cocoons before changing to chrysalids, and are 
transformed to moths towards the end of June or the beginning of 
July. Mr. Abbot states that in Georgia these insects breed twice 
a year, the first broods making their cocoons towards the end of 
May, and appearing in the winged form fifteen days afterwards. 
This, a jSTotodonta, is a neat and trim looking moth, and is of a 
light brown color ; the fore-wings are dark brown along the inner 
margin, and more or less tinged with gray before ; there is a dark 
brown dot near the middle, a spot of the same color near each an- 
gle, a very small triangular whitish spot near the shoulders, and 
several dark brown longitudinal streaks on the outer hind margin ; 
the hind-wings of the male are brownish or dirty white, with a 



110 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

brown spot on the inner hind angle ; those of the other sex are 
dusky brown ; the body is light brown, with the thorax rather 
darker. The wings expand from one inch to one inch and three- 
eighths. 

The second kind grow to a greater size, are longer in coming to 
their growth, their swarms are more numerous, and consequently 
they do much more injury than the red-humped kind. Entire 
branches of the apple-trees are frequently stripped of their leaves 
by them, and are loaded with these caterpillars in thickly crowded 
swarms. The eggs from which they are hatched will be found in 
patches, of about a hundred together, fastened to the under-side of 
leaves near the ends of * the twigs. Some of them begin to be 
hatched about the twentieth of July, and new broods make their 
appearance in succession for the space of a month or more. At 
first they eat only the under-side and pulpy part of the leaves, 
leaving the upper-side and veins untouched ; but afterwards they 
consume the whole of the leaves except their stems. These cater- 
pillars are sparingly covered with soft whitish hairs ; the young 
ones are brown, and striped with white ; but as they grow older, 
their colors become darker every time they cast their skins. They 
come to their full size in about five weeks or a little more, and then 
measure from an inch and three quarters to two inches and a quar- 
ter in extent. The head is large, and of a black color ; the body 
is nearly cylindrical, with a spot on the top of the first ring and the 
legs dull orange-yellow, a black stripe along the top of the back, 
and three of the same color alternating with four yellow stripes on 
each side. The posture of these caterpillars, when at rest, is vcjry 
odd ; both extremities are raised, the body being bent, and resting 
only on the four intermediate pairs of legs. If touched or other- 
wise disturbed, they throw up their heads and tails with a jerk, at 
the same time bending the body semicircularly till the two extremi- 
ties almost meet over the back. They all eat together, and, after 
they have done, arrange themselves side by side along the twigs 
and branches which they have stripped. Beginning at the ends 
of the branches they eat all the leaves successively from thence to- 
wards the trunk, and if one branch does not afford food enough 
they betake themselves to another. When ready to transform, all 
the individuals of the same brood quit the tree at once, descending 
by night, and burrow into the ground to the depth of three or four 
inches, and, within twenty-four hours afterwards, cast their cater- 
pillar-skins, and become chrysalids without making cocoons. They 



INSECTS. Ill 

remain in the ground in this state all winter, and are changed to 
moths and come out between the middle and end of July. These 
moths belong to the genus Pygcera, so named because the cater- 
pillar sits with its tail raised up. The antennae are rather long, 
those of the males fringed beneath, in a double row, with very 
short hairs nearly to the tips, which, however, as well as the whole 
of the stalk of the antennas in the other sex, are bare ; the thorax 
is generally marked with a large dark-colored spot, the hairs of 
which can be raised up so as to form a ridge or kind of crest ; the 
hinder margin of the fore-wings is slightly notched ; and the fore- 
legs are stretched out before the body in repose. Our Pygcera was 
named, by Drury, ministra, the attendant or servant. It is of a 
light brown color ; the head and a large square spot on the thorax 
are dark chestnut-brown ; on the fore-wings are four or five trans- 
verse lines, one or two spots near the middle, and a short oblique 
line near the tip, all of which, with the outer hind margin, are dark 
chestnut-brown. One and sometimes both of the dark-brown spots 
are wanting on the fore-wings in the males, and the females, which 
are larger than the other sex, frequently have five instead of four 
transverse brown lines. It expands from one inch and three quar- 
ters to two inches and a half. 

There are seen on the oak, the birch, the black walnut, and the 
hickory trees, swarms of caterpillars slightly differing in color from 
each other and from those that live on the apple and cherry trees ; 
they are more hairy than the latter, but their postures and habits 
appear to be the same. They are probably only varieties of the 
ministra, arising from the difference of food. 

Corn Caterpillar. — Indian corn often suffers severely from the 
depredations of one of the genus jSTonagrians, known to our farmers 
by the name of the spindle-worm. This insect receives its common 
name from its destroying the spindle of the Indian corn ; but its 
ravages generally begin while the corn-stalk is young, and before 
the spindle rises much above the tuft of leaves in which it is em- 
bosomed. The mischief is discovered by the withering of the leaves, 
and, when these are taken hold of, they may often be drawn out 
with the included spindle. On examining the corn, a small hole 
may be seen in the side of the leafy stalk, near the ground, pene- 
trating into the soft centre of the stalk, which, when cut open, will 
be found to be perforated, both upwards and downwards, by a slen- 
der worm-like caterpillar, whose excrementitious castings surround 
the orifice of the hole. This caterpillar grows to the length of an 



112 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

inch, or more, and to the thickness of a goose-quill. It is smooth, 
and apparently naked, yellowish, with the head, the top of the first 
and of the last rings black, and with a band across each of the 
other rings, consisting of small, smooth, slightly elevated, shining 
bhu-k dots, arranged in a double row. The chrysalis, which is 
lodged in the burrow formed by the spindle-worm, is slender, but 
not quite so long in proportion to its thickness as are those of most 
of the Xonagrians. It is shining mahogany-brown, with the ante- 
rior edges of four of the rings of the back roughened with little 
points, and four short spines or hooks, turned upwards, on the 
hinder extremity of the body. The fore-wings are rust-red ; they 
are mottled with gray, almost in bands, uniting with the ordinary 
spots, which are also gray and indistinct ; there is an irregular 
tawny spot near the tip, and on the veins there are a few black 
clots. The hind-wings are yellowish gray, with a central dusky 
spot, behind which are two faint, dusky bands. The head and 
thorax are rust-red, with an elevated tawny tuft on each. The ab- 
domen is pale brown, with a row of tawny tufts on the back. The 
wu'ngs expand nearly one inch and a half. 

In order to check the ravages of these insects they must be de- 
stroyed while in the caterpillar state. As soon as our corn-fields 
begin to show, by the withering of the leaves, the usual signs that 
the enemy is at work in the stalks, the spindle-worms should be 
sought for and killed ; for, if allowed to remain undisturbed until 
they turn to moths, they will make their escape, and we shall not 
be able to prevent them from laying their eggs for another brood 
of these pestilent insects. 

Cut Worms. — Numerous complaints have been made of the 
ravages of cut-worms among corn, wdieat, grass, and other vegeta- 
bles, in various parts of the country. These insects and their his- 
tory are not yet known to some of the very persons who are said 
to have suffered from their depredations. Various cut-worms, or 
more properly subterranean caterpillars, wire-worms and grub- 
worms, or the young of May-beetles, are often confounded together 
or mistaken for each other ; sometimes their names are inter- 
changed, and sometimes the same name is given to each and all of 
these different animals. Hence the remedies that are successful in 
some instances are entirely useless in others. The name of cut- 
worm seems originally to have been given to certain caterpillars 
that live in the ground about the roots of plants, but come up in 
the night, and cut off and devour the tender stems and lower leaves 



INSECTS. 



113 




THE CUT WORM. 

of young cabbages, beans, corn, and other herbaceous plants. These 
subterranean caterpillars are finally transformed to moths belonging 
to a group which may be called Agrotidians (Agrotidid.e), from a 
word signifying rustic, or pertaining to the fields. Some of these 
rustic moths fly by day, and may be found in the fields, especially 
in the autumn, sucking the honey of flowers ; others are on the 
wing only at night, and during the day lie concealed in chinks of 
walls and other dark places. Their wings are nearly horizontal 
when closed, the upper pair completely covering the lower wings, 
and often overlapping a little on their inner edges, thus favoring 
these insects in their attempts to obtain shelter and concealment. 
The thorax is slightly convex, but smooth or not crested. The an- 
tennae of the males are generally beset with two rows of short points, 
like fine teeth, on the under-side, nearly to the tips. The fore-legs 
are often quite spiny. Most of these moths come forth in July and 
August, and soon afterwards lay their eggs in the ground, in 
plowed fields, gardens, and meadows. In Europe it is found that 
the eggs are hatched early in the autumn, at which time the little 
subterranean caterpillars live chiefly on the roots and tender sprouts 
of herbaceous plants. On the approach of winter they descend 
deeper into the ground, and, curling themselves up, remain in a 
torpid state till the following spring, when they ascend towards the 
surface, and renew their devastations. The caterpillars of the 
Agrotidians are smooth, shining, naked, and dark-colored, with lon- 
gitudinal pale and blackish stripes, and a few black dots on each 



114 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

ring; some of them also have a shining, horny, black spot, on the 
top of the first ring. They are of a cylindrical form, tapering a 
little at each end, rather thiek in proportion to their length, and are 
provided with sixteen legs. They are changed to ehrysalids in the 

ground, without previously making silken cocoons. 

It is chiefly during the months of June and July that they are 
found to be most destructive. Whole grain-fields are sometimes 
laid waste by them. Cabbage-plants, till they are grown to a con- 
siderable size, are very apt to be cut off and destroyed by them. 
Potato-vines, beans,#beets, and various other culinary plants suffer 
in the same way. The products of our flower-gardens are not 
spared ; asters, balsams, pinks, and many other kinds of flowers are 
often shorn of their leaves and of their central buds, by these con- 
cealed spoilers. 

There are several species of Agrotis, the larvse of which are inju- 
rious to culinary plants ; but the chief culprit is the same as that 
which is destructive to young corn. The corn-cut worms make 
their appearance in great numbers at irregular periods, and confine 
themselves in their devastations to no particular vegetables, all that 
are succulent being relished by these indiscriminate devourers ; but, 
if their choice is not limited, they prefer corn-plants when not more 
than a few inches above the earth, early sown buckwheat, young- 
pumpkin plants, young beans, cabbage-plants, and many other field 
and garden vegetables. When first disclosed from the eggs they 
subsist on the various grasses. They descend in the ground on the 
approach of severe frosts, and reappear in the spring about half 
grown. They seek their food in the night or in cloudy weather, 
and retire before sunrise into the ground, or beneath stones or any 
substance which can shelter them from the rays of the sun ; here 
they remain coiled up during the day, except while devouring the 
food which they generally drag into their places of concealment. 
Their transformation to pupae occurs at different periods, sometimes 
earlier, sometimes later, according to the forwardness of the season, 
but usually not much later than the middle of July. The moths, 
as well as the larva3, vary much in the depth of their color, from a 
pale ash to a deep or obscure brown. The ordinary spots of the 
upper wings of the moth are always connected by a blackish line ; 
where the color is of the deepest shade these spots are scarcely 
visible, but when the color is lighter they are very obvious. This 
moth is very abundant in the New England States, from the mid- 
dle of June till the middle or end of August. The fore- wine's are 



INSECTS. 115 

generally of a dark ash-color, with only a very faint trace of the 
double transverse wavy bands that are found in most species of 
Agrotis ; the two ordinary spots are small and narrow, the anterior 
spot being oblong oval, and connected with the oblique kidney- 
shaped spot, by a longitudinal black line. The hind wings are 
dirty brownish white, somewhat darker behind. The head, the 
collar, and the abdomen are chestnut-colored. It expands one inch 
and three quarters. The wings, when shut, overlap on their inner 
edges, and cover the top of the back so flatly and closely that these 
moths can get into very narrow crevices. During the day they lie 
hidden under the bark of trees, in the chinks of fences, and even 
under the loose clapboards of buildings. When the blinds of our 
houses are opened in the morning, a little swarm of these insects, 
which had crept behind them for concealment, is sometimes ex- 
posed, and suddenly aroused from their daily slumber. 

Among the various remedies that have been proposed for pre- 
venting the ravages of cut-worms in wheat and corn-fields, may be 
mentioned the soaking of grain, before planting, in copperas- water 
and other solutions supposed to be disagreeable to the insects ; 
rolling the seed in lime or ashes ; and mixing salt with the manure. 
These may prevent wire-worms and some insects from destroying 
the seed ; but cut-worms prey only on the sprouts and young 
stalks, and do not eat the seeds. Such stimulating applications 
may be of some benefit, by promoting a more rapid and vigorous 
growth of the grain, by which means the sprouts will the sooner 
become so strong and rank as to resist or escape the attacks of the 
young cut-worms. Fall-plowing of sward-lands, which are in- 
tended to be sown with wheat or planted with corn the year follow- 
ing, will turn up and expose the insects to the inclemency of winter, 
whereby many of them will be killed, and will also bring them 
within reach of insect-eating birds. But this seems to be a doubt- 
ful remedy, against which many objections have been urged. The 
most effectual, and not a laborious remedy, even in field-culture, is 
to go round every morning, and open the earth at the foot of the 
plant, and you will never fail to find the worm at the root, within 
four inches. Kill him, and you will save not only the other plants 
of your field, but, probably, many thousands in future years. 

Plum Weevil or Cueculio. — It is now well known that the 
falling of unripe plums, apricots, peaches and cherries, is caused by 
little whitish grubs, which bore into these fruits. The loss of fruit, 
occasioned by insects of this kind, is frequently very great ; and, 



116 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

in some of our gardens and orchards, the crop of plums is often 
entirely ruined by the depredations of grubs, which are the larvae 
or young of a small beetle called the Nenuphar or plum-weevil, or 
Curculio. These beetles are found as early as the thirtieth of March, 
and as late as the tenth of June, and at various intermediate times, 
according with the forwardness or backwardness of vegetation in 
the spring, and have frequently been caught flying in the middle 
of the day. They are from three twentieths to one fifth of an 
inch long, exclusive of the curved snout, which is rather longer 
than the thorax, and is bent under the breast, between the fore- 
legs, when at rest. Their color is a dark brown, variegated wdth 
spots of white, ochre-yellow, and black. The thorax is uneven ; 
the wing-covers have several short ridges upon them, those on the 
middle of the back forming two considerable humps, of a black 
color, behind which there is a wide band of ochre-yellow and 
white. Each of the thighs has two little teeth on the under-side. 
They begin to sting the plums as soon as the fruit is set, and, as 
some say, continue their operations till the first of August. After 
making a suitable puncture with their snouts, they lay one egg in 
each plum thus stung, and go over the fruit on the tree in this way 
till their store is exhausted ; so that, where these beetles abound, 
not a plum will escape being punctured. The irritation arising 
from these punctures, and from the gnawings of the grubs after 
they are hatched, causes the young fruit to become gummy, dis- 
eased, and finally to drop before it is ripe. Meanwhile the grub 
comes to its growth, and, immediately after the fruit falls, burrows 
into the ground. This may occur at various times between the 
middle of June and of August ; and, in the space of a little more 
than three weeks afterwards, the insect completes its transforma- 
tions, and comes out of the ground in the beetle form. 

This same w 7 eevil attacks all our common stone-fruits, such as 
plums, peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries and apples ; and it is 
not at all improbable that the transformations of some of the grubs 
may be -retarded till the winter has passed, analogous cases being 
of frequent occurrence. The plum, still more than the cherry tree, 
is subject to a disease of the small limbs, which shows itself in the 
form of large irregular warts, of a black color, as if charred. Grubs, 
apparently the same as those that are found in plums, have often 
been detected in these w r arts, which are now generally supposed to 
be produced by the punctures of the beetles, and the residence of 
the grubs. The seat of the disease is in the bark. The sap is di- 



INSECTS. 117 

verted from its regular course, and is absorbed entirely by the bark, 
which is very much increased in thickness ; the cuticle bursts, the 
swelling* becomes irregular, and is formed into black lumps, with a 
cracked, uneven, granulated surface. The wood, besides being de- 
prived of its nutriment, is very much compressed, and the branch 
above the tumor perishes. 

The final transformation of the grubs, living in the fruit, appears 
to take place at various times during the latter part of summer and 
the beginning of autumn, when the weevil, finding no young fruit, 
is probably obliged to lay its eggs in the small branches. The 
larvne or grubs from these eggs live in the branches during the 
winter, and are not perfected till near the last of the following 
June. Should the fall of the fruit occur late in the autumn, the 
development of the beetles will be retarded till the next spring ; 
and this is supposed to be the origin of the brood which stings the 
fruit. 

The following, among other remedies that have been suggested, 
may be found useful in checking the ravages of the plum-weevil. 
Let the trees be briskly shaken or suddenly jarred every morning 
and evening during the time that the insects appear in the beetle 
form, and are engaged in laying their eggs. When thus disturbed 
they contract their legs and fall ; and, as they do not immediately 
attempt to fly or crawl away, they may be caught in a sheet spread 
under the tree, from which they should be gathered into a large 
wide-mouthed bottle or other tight vessel, and be thrown into the 
fire. All the fallen wormy plums should be immediately gathered, 
and, after they are boiled or steamed, to kill the enclosed grubs, 
they may be given as food to swine. The diseased excrescences 
should be cut out and burned every year before the last of June. 
The moose plum-tree (Primus Americana), seems to escape the at- 
tacks of insects, for no warts are found upon it, even when growing 
in the immediate vicinity of diseased foreign trees. It would, there- 
fore, be the best of stocks for budding or engrafting upon. It can 
easily be raised from the stone, and grows rapidly, but does not 
attain a great size. 

This plum-weevil, an insect unknown in Europe, when arrived at 
maturity, is a little, rough, dark brown or blackish beetle, looking 
like a dried bud, when it is shaken from the trees, which resem- 
blance is increased by its habit of drawing up its legs and bending 
its snout close to the lower side of its body, and remaining for a 
time without motion and seemingly lifeless. In stinging the fruit, 



118 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

before laying its eggs, it uses its short curved snout, which is armed 
at the tip with a pair of very small nippers ; and by means of this 
weapon, it makes, in the tender skin of the young plum or apple, 
a crescent-shaped incision, similar to what would be formed by in- 
denting the fruit with the finger nail. Very rarely is there more 
than one incision made in the same fruit ; and in the wound, the 
weevil lays only a single egg. The insect hatched from this egg 
is a little whitish grub, destitute of feet, and very much like a mag- 
got in appearance, except that it has a distinct, rounded, light brown 
head. It appears, furthermore, that the tumors on plum and on 
cherry trees are infested not only by these insects, but also by an- 
other kind 'of grub, provided with legs, and occasionally by the 
wood-eating caterpillars of the dEgeria exitiosa, or peach-tree borer. 
When the grubs of the plum-weevil are fully grown, they go into 
the ground, and are there changed to chrysalids of a white color, 
having the legs and wings free and capable of some motion ; and 
finally they leave the ground in the form of little beetles, exactly 
like those which had previously stung the fruit. Further observa- 
tion seems to be wanting before it can be proved that the cankerous 
warts on plum and cherry trees arise from the irritating punctures 
of the plum-weevils and of the other insects that occasionally make 
these warts their places of abode ; although it must be allowed that 
the well-known production of galls by insects on oak-trees and on 
other plants, would lead us to suppose that those of the plum-tree 
have a similar origin. 

Canker-Worms. — The insects called canker-worms are of a kind 
called Span-worms, or Geometers, and of the group Hybernians. 
The moths, from which they are produced, belong to the genus 
Anisopteryx. 

It was formerly supposed that the canker-worm moths came out 
of the ground only in the spring. It is now known that many 
of them rise in the autumn and in the early part of the winter, 
and in mild and open winters in every month from October to 
March. They begin to make their appearance after the first hard 
frosts in the autumn, usually towards the end of October, and they 
continue to come forth, in greater or smaller numbers, according 
to the mildness or severity of the weather after the frosts have be- 
gun. Their general time of rising is in the spring, beginning about 
the middle of March, but sometimes before, and sometimes after 
this time ; and they continue to come forth for the space of about 
three weeks. It has been observed that there are more females 



INSECTS. 119 

than males among those that appear in the autumn and winter, 
and that the males are most abundant in the spring. The slug- 
gish females instinctively make their way towards the nearest trees, 
and creep slowly up their trunks. In a few days afterwards they 
are followed by the winged and active males, which flutter about 
and accompany them in their ascent, during which the insects pair. 
Soon after this, the females lay their eggs upon the branches of the 
trees, placing them on their ends, close together in rows, forming 
clusters of from sixty to one hundred eggs or more, which is the 
number usually laid by each female. The eggs are glued to each 
other, and to the bark, by a grayish varnish, which is impervious 
to water ; and the clusters are thus securely fastened in the forks 
of the small branches, or close to the young twigs and buds. Im- 
mediately after the insects have thus provided for a succession of 
their kind, they begin to languish, and soon die. The eggs are 
usually hatched between the first and the middle of May, or about 
the time that the red currant is in blossom, and the young leaves 
of the apple-tree begin to start from the bud and grow. The little 
canker-worms, upon making their escape from the eggs, gather 
upon the tender leaves, and, on the occurrence of cold and wet 
weather, creep for shelter into the bosom of the bud, or into the 
flowers, when the latter appear. Where these insects prevail, they 
are most abundant on apple and elm trees ; but cherry, plum, 
and lime trees, and some other cultivated and native trees, as well 
as many shrubs, often suffer severely from their voracity. The leaves 
first attacked will be found pierced with small holes ; these become 
larger and more irregular when the canker-worms increase in size ; 
and, at last, the latter eat nearly all the pulpy parts of the leaves, 
leaving little more than the midrib and veins. A very great dif- 
ference of color is observable among canker-worms of different ages, 
and even among those of the same age and size. It is possible that 
some of these variations may arise from a difference of species ; but 
it is also true that the same species varies much in color. When 
very young, they have two minute warts on the top of the last 
ring ; and they are generally of a blackish or dusky brown color, 
with a yellowish stripe on each side of the body ; there are two 
whitish bands across the head ; and the belly is also whitish. When 
fully grown, these individuals become ash-colored on the back, and 
black on the sides, below wdiich the pale yellowish fine remains. 
Some are found of a dull greenish yellow and others of a clay color, 
with slender interrupted blackish fines on the sides, and small spots 



120 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

of the same color on the back. Some are green, with two white 
stripes on the back. The head and the feet partake of the general 
color of the body ; the belly is paler. When not eating, they re- 
main stretched out at full length, and resting on their fore and hind 
legs, beneath the leaves. When fully grown and well fed, they 
measure nearly or quite one inch in length. They leave off eating 
when about four weeks old, and begin to quit the trees ; some creep 
down by the trunk, but great numbers let themselves down by their 
threads from the branches, their instincts prompting them to get to 
the ground by the most tlirect and easiest course. When thus de- 
scending, and suspended in great numbers under the limbs of trees 
overhanging the road, they are often swept off by passing carriages, 
and are thus conveyed to other places. After reaching the ground, 
they immediately burrow in the earth, to the depth of from two to 
six inches, unless prevented by weakness or the nature of the soil. 
In the latter case, they die, or undergo their transformations on the 
surface. In the former, they make little cavities or cells in the 
ground, by turning round repeatedly and fastening the loose grains 
of earth about them with a few silken threads. Within twenty- 
four hours afterwards, they are changed to chrysalids in their cells. 
The chrysalis is of a light brown color, and varies in size according 
to the sex of the insect contained in it ; that of the female being 
the largest, and being destitute of a covering for wings, which is 
found in the chrysalis of the males. The occurrence of mild 
weather after a severe frost stimulates some of these insects to burst 
their chrysalis skins and come forth in the perfected state ; and 
this last transformation, as before stated, may take place in the au- 
tumn, or in the course of the winter, as well as in the spring ; it is 
also retarded, in some individuals, for a year or more beyond the 
usual time. They come out of the ground mostly in the night, 
when they may be seen struggling through the grass as far as the 
limbs extend from the body of the trees under which they had been 
buried. As the females are destitute of wings, they are not able to 
wander far from the trees upon which they had lived in the cater- 
pillar state. Canker-worms are therefore naturally confined to a 
very limited space. 

In order to protect our trees from the ravages of canker-worms, 

where these looping spoilers abound, it should be our aim, if pos- 

' sible, to prevent the wingless females from ascending the trees to 

deposit their eggs. This can be done by the application of tar 

around the body of the tree, either directly on the bark, as has 



INSECTS. 121 

been the most common practice, or, what is better, over a broad 
belt of clay-mortar, or on strips of old canvass or of strong paper, 
from six to twelve inches wide, fastened around the trunk with 
strings. The tar must be applied as early as the first of November, 
aucl perhaps in October, and it should be renewed daily as long as 
the insects continue rising ; after which the bands may be removed, 
and the tar should be entirely scraped from the bark. When all 
this has been properly and seasonably done, it has proved effectual. 
The time, labor, and expense attending the use of tar, and the in- 
jury that it does to the trees when allowed to run and remain on 
the bark, have caused many persons to neglect this method, and 
some to try various modifications of it, and other expedients. Among 
the modifications may be mentioned a horizontal and close-fitting 
collar of boards, fastened around the trunk, and smeared beneath 
with tar ; or four boards, nailed together, like a box without top or 
bottom, around the base of the tree, to receive the tar on the out- 
side. These can be used to protect a few choice trees in a garden, 
or around a house or a public square, but will be found too expen- 
sive to be applied to any great extent. Collars of tin-plate, fas- 
tened around the trees, and sloping downwards like an inverted 
tunnel, have been proposed, upon the supposition that the moths 
would not be able to creep in an inverted position, beneath the 
smooth and sloping surface. This method will also prove too ex- 
pensive for general adoption, even should it be found to answer the 
purpose. A belt of cotton-wool, which it has been thought would 
entangle the feet of the insects, and thus keep them from ascending 
the trees, has not proved an effectual bar to them. Little square 
or circular troughs of tin or of lead, filled with cheap fish oil, and 
placed around the trees, three feet or more above the surface of the 
ground, with a stuffing of cloth, hay, or sea-weed between them and 
the trunk, have long been used with good success ; and the only 
objections to them are the cost of the troughs, the difficulty of fixing 
and keeping them in their places, and the injury suffered by the 
trees when the oil is washed or blown out and falls upon the bark. 
These troughs ought not to be nailed to the trees, but should be 
supported by a few wooden wedges driven between them and the 
trunks. A stuffing of cloth, cotton, or tow, should never be used ; 
sea-weed and fine hay, which will not absorb the oil, are much 
better. Before the troughs are fastened and filled, the body of the 
tree should be well coated with clay-paint or white-wash, to absorb 
the oil that may fall upon it. Care should be taken to renew the 
6 



122 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

oil as often as it escapes or becomes filled with the insects. These 
troughs will be found more economical and less troublesome than 
the application of tar, and may safely be recommended and em- 
ployed, if proper attention is given to the precautions above named. 
Some persons fasten similar troughs, to contain oil, around the outer 
sides of an open box enclosing the base of the tree, and a projecting 
lodge is nailed on the edge of the box to shed the rain ; by this 
contrivance, all danger of hurting the tree with the oil is entirely 
avoided. Let a piece of India rubber be burnt over a gallipot, into 
which it will gradually drop in the condition of a viscid juice, which 
state, it appears, it will always retain. Having melted the India 
rubber, let a piece of cord or worsted be smeared with it, and then 
tied several times round the trunk. The melted substance is-*o 
very sticky, that the insects will be prevented, and generally cap- 
tured, in their atteirrpts to pass over it. It has been suggested that 
the melted rubber might be applied immediately to the bark with- 
out injuring the trees. A little conical mound of sand surrounding 
the base of the tree is found to be impassable to the moths, so long 
as the sand remains dry ; but they easily pass over it when the 
sand is wet, and they come out of the ground in wet, as often as in 
dry weather. 

Some attempts have been made to destroy the canker-worms 
after they w T ere hatched from the eggs, and were dispersed over the 
leaves of the trees. It is said that some persons have saved their 
trees from these insects by freely dusting air-slacked lime over them 
while the leaves w r ere wet with dew. Showering the trees with 
mixtures that are found useful to destroy other insects, has been 
tried by a few, and, although attended with a good deal of trouble 
and expense, it may be worth our while to apply such remedies 
upon small and choice trees. A mixture of water and oil-soap (an 
article to be procured from the manufactories where whale oil is 
purified,) in the proportion of one pound of the soap to seven gal- 
lons of water has been used ; this liquor, when thrown on the trees 
with a garden engine, will destroy the canker-worm and many other 
insects, without injuring the foliage of the fruit. Jarring or shaking 
the limbs of the trees will disturb the canker-worms, and cause 
many of them to spin down, when their threads may be broken 
off with a pole ; and if the troughs around the trees are at the same 
time replenished with oil, or the tar is again applied, the insects 
will be caught in their attempts to creep up the trunks. In the 
same way, also, those that are coming down the trunks to go into 



INSECTS. 123 

the ground will be caught and killed. If greater pains were to be 
taken to destro} T the insects in the caterpillar state, their numbers 
would soon greatly diminish. 

Even after they have left the trees, have gone into the ground, 
and have changed their forms, they are not wholly beyond the 
reach of means for destroying them. In orchards, in the autumn, 
root up and kill great numbers of the chrysalids of the canker- 
worms. Some persons have recommended digging or plowing 
under the trees, in the autumn, with the hope of crushing some of 
the chrysalids by so doing, and of exposing others to perish with 
the cold of the following winter. If hogs are then allowed to go 
among the trees, and a few grains of corn are scattered on the 
loosened soil, these animals will eat many of the chrysalids as well 
as the corn, and will crush others with their feet. 

Apple, elm, and lime-trees, are sometimes injured a good deal 
by another kind of span-worm, larger than the canker-worm, and 
very different from it in appearance. It is of a bright yellow color, 
with ten crinkled black lines along the top of the back ; the head 
is rust-colored ; and the belly is paler than the rest of the body. 
When fully grown, it measures about one inch and a quarter in 
length. It often rests with the middle of the body curved upwards 
a little, and sometimes even without the support of its fore-legs. 
The leaves of the lime seem to be its natural and favorite food, for 
it may be found on this tree every year ; but is seen in considerable 
abundance, with common canker-worms, on other trees. It is 
hatched rather later, and does not leave the trees quite so soon as 
the latter. About or soon after the middle of June it spins down 
from the trees, goes into the ground, and changes to a chrysalis in 
a little cell five or six inches below the surface ; and from this it 
comes out in the moth state towards the end of October or during 
the month of November. More rarely its last transformation is re- 
tarded till the spring. The females are wingless and grub-like, with 
slender thread-shaped antennae. As soon as they leave the ground 
they creep up the trees, and lay their eggs in little clusters, here 
and there on the branches. 

As these span-worms appear at the same time as canker-worms, 
resemble them in their habits, and often live on the same trees, they 
can be kept in check by such means as are found useful when em- 
ployed against canker-worms. 

The Hop Caterpillar. — The hop-vine is often infested by great 
numbers of caterpillars called Herminians, of the group Pyralides. 



121 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

They eat large holes in the leaves, and thereby sometimes greatly 
injure the plant Caterpillars of this kind have also been observed 
on the hop in Europe, from whence ours may have been introduced; 
but until specimens from Europe and this country are compared 
together, in all their states, it will be well to consider the latter as 
distinct. Our hop-vine caterpillars are false-loopers, bending up the 
back a little when they creep, because the first pair of prop-legs, 
found in other caterpillars, is wanting in them. The rings of their 
bodies are rather prominent, the cross-lines between them being 
deep. They are of a green color, with two longitudinal white lines 
along the back, a dark green line in the middle between them, and 
an indistinct whitish line on each side of the body. The head is 
green, and very regularly spotted with minute black dots, from each 
of which arises a very short hair. There are similar dots and hairs 
arranged in two transverse rows on each of the rings. When dis- 
turbed they bend their bodies suddenly and with a jerk, first on 
one side and then on the other, each time leaping to a considerable 
distance, so that it is difficult to catch or hold them. They make 
no webs on the leaves, and do not suspend themselves by silken 
threads like the Geometer's ; but they are very active, creep fast, 
and soon get upon the leaves again after leaping ofT. When fully 
grown they are about eight-tenths of an inch long. They then form 
a thin, imperfect, silky cocoon within a folded leaf, or in some 
crevice or sheltered spot, and are changed to brownish chrysalids, 
which present nothing remarkable in their appearance. Three 
weeks afterwards the moths come forth from these cocoons, There 
are two broods of these insects in the course of the summer. The 
caterpillars of the first brood appear in May and June, and are 
transformed to moths towards the end of June, and during the early 
part of July. Those of the second brood appear in July and Au- 
gust, and are changed to moths in September. The insects of the 
second brood are much the most numerous usually, and do much 
more damage to the hop-vine than the others. 

The means for destroying the hop-vine caterpillars are showering 
or syringing the plants with strong soap-suds, or with a solution of 
oil-soap in water, in the proportion of two pounds of the soap to 
fourteen or fifteen gallons of water. 

The Bee-Moth. — The bee-moth belongs to the group of Cram- 
bians of the Tinese. Doubtless it was first brought to this country, 
with the common hive-bee, from Europe, where it is very abundant, 
and does much mischief in hives. Very few T of the Tinece exceed 



INSECTS. 125 

or even equal it in size. In its perfect or ad nit state it is a winged 
moth or miller, measuring, from the head to the tip of the closed 
wings, from five eighths to three quarters of an inch in length, and 
its wings expand from one inch and one tenth to one inch and four 
tenths. The feelers are two in number ; and the tongue is very 
short, and hardly visible. The fore-wings shut together flatly on 
the top of the back, slope steeply downwards at the sides, and are 
turned up at the end, somewhat like the tail of a fowl. The male 
is of a dusty gray color ; his fore-wings are more or less glossed and 
streaked with purple-brown on the outer edge, they have a few 
dark brown spots near the inner margin, and they are scalloped or 
notched inwardly at the end ; his hind-wings are light yellowish- 
gray, with whitish fringes. The female is much larger than the 
male, and much darker colored ; her fore-wings are proportionally 
longer, not so deeply notched on the outer hind margin, and not 
so much turned up at the end ; they are more tinged with purple- 
brown, sprinkled with darker spots ; and the hind-wings are dirty 
or grayish white. There are two broods of these insects in the 
course of a year. Some winged moths of the first brood begin to 
appear towards the end of April, or early in May ; those of the 
second brood are most abundant in August ; but between these 
periods, and even later, others come to perfection, and consequently 
some of them may be found during the greater part of the summer. 
By day they remain quiet on the sides or in the crevices of the bee- 
house ; but, if disturbed at this time, they open their wings a little, 
and spring or glide swiftly away, so that it is very difficult to seize 
or to hold them. In the evening they take wing, when the bees 
are at rest, and hover around the hive, till, having found the door, 
they go in and lay their eggs. Those that are prevented by the 
crowd, or by any other cause, from getting within the hive, lay 
their eggs on the outside, or on the stand, and the little worm-like 
caterpillars hatched therefrom easily creep into the hive through the 
cracks, or gnaw a passage for themselves under the edges of it. 
These caterpillars, at first, are not thicker than a thread. They 
have sixteen legs. Their bodies are soft and tender, and of a yel- 
lowish white color, sprinkled with a few little brownish dots, from 
each of which proceeds a short hair ; their heads are brown and 
shelly, and there are two brown spots on the top of the first ring. 
Weak as they are, and unprovided with any natural means of de- 
fence, destined, too, to dwell in the midst of the populous hive, sur- 
rounded by watchful and well-armed enemies, at whose expense 



12 G THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

they live, they are taught liow to shield themselves against the 
vengeance ot the bees, and pass safely and unseen in every direc- 
tion through the waxen cells, which they break down and destroy. 
Beeswax is their only food, and they prefer the old to the new 
comb, and are always found most numerous in the upper part of 
the hive, where the oldest honeycomb is lodged. It is not a little 
wonderful, that these insects should be able to get any nourishment 
from wax, a substance which other animals cannot digest at all ; 
but they are created with an appetite for it, and with such extraor- 
dinary powers of digestion, that they thrive well upon this kind of 
food. As soon as they are hatched they "begin to spin ; and each 
one makes for itself a tough silken tube, wherein it can easily turn 
around and move backwards or forwards at pleasure. During the 
day they remain concealed in their silken tubes ; but at night, when 
the bees cannot see them, they come partly out, and devour the 
wax within their reach. As they increase in size, they lengthen 
and enlarge their dwellings, and cover them on the outside with a 
coating of grains of wax mixed with their own castings, which re- 
semble gunpowder. Protected by this coating from the stings of 
the bees, they w r ork their way through the combs, gnaw them to 
pieces, and fill the hive with their filthy webs ; till at last the dis- 
couraged bees, whose diligence and skill are of no more use to them 
in contending with their unseen foes, than their superior size and 
powerful weapons, are compelled to abandon their perishing brood 
and their wasted stores, and leave the desolated hive to the sole 
jDossession of the miserable spoilers. These caterpillars grow to the 
length of an inch or a little more, and come to their full size in 
about three weeks. They then spin their cocoons, which are strong 
silken pods, of an oblong oval shape, and about one inch in length, 
and are often clustered together in great numbers in the top of the 
hive. Some time afterwards, the insects in these cocoons change 
to chrysalids of a light brown color, rough on the back, and with 
an elevated dark brown line upon it from one end to the other. 
When this transformation happens in the autumn, the insects re- 
main without further change till the spring, and then burst open 
their cocoons, and come forth with wings. Those which become 
chrysalids in the early part of summer are transformed to winged 
moths fourteen days afterwards, and immediately pair, lay their 
eggs, and die. 

Bees suffer most from the depredations of these insects in hot and 
dry summers. Strong and healthy swarms, provided with a con- 



INSECTS. 127 

stant supply of food near home, more often escape than small and 
weak ones. When the moth- worms have established themselves 
in a hive, their presence is made known to us by the little frag- 
ments of wax and the black grains scattered by them over the floor. 
Means should then be taken, without delay, to dislodge the depre- 
dators and invigorate the swarm. Kollar states that there is but 
one sure method of clearing bee-hives of the moth, and this is to 
look for and destroy the caterpillars or moth-worms and the chrysa- 
lids ; and he advises that the hives should be examined, for this 
purpose, once a week, and that all the webs and cocoons, with the 
insects in them, should be taken out and destroyed. At all events, 
the examination ought to be made every year, early in September, 
when the cocoons will be found in greater numbers than at any 
other time, and should be carefully removed and burned. The 
winged moths are very fond of sweets ; and if shallow vessels, con- 
taining a mixture of honey or sugar, with vinegar and water, are 
placed near the bee-house in the evening, the moths will get into 
them and be drowned. In this way great numbers maybe caught 
every night. Several kinds of hives and bee-houses have been con- 
trived and recommended, for the purpose of keeping out the bee- 
moth ; but it does not appear that any of them entirely supersede 
the necessity for the measures above recommended. 

Grain Moths. — The various kinds of destructive moths, found 
in houses, stores, barns, granaries, breweries, and mills, are mostly 
very small insects ; the largest of them, when arrived at maturity, 
expanding their wings only about eight tenths of an inch. The 
ravages of some of these little creatures are too well known to need 
a particular description. Among them may be mentioned the grain- 
moth (T. griinella), with some others belonging to a group, which 
may be called Tineans (Tixead.e), and the Angoumois grain-moth 
(Anacamjms cerealella,) both of which are to be included among the 
Yponomeutians. 

Stored grain is exposed to much injury from the depredations 
of two little moths, in Europe, and is attacked hi the same way, 
and apparently by the same insects, in this country. 

The European grain-moth (Tinea granella), in its perfected state, 

is a winded insect, between three and four tenths of an inch Ions; 

... . 

from the head to the tip of its wings, and expands six tenths of an 

inch. It has a whitish tuft on its forehead ; its long and narrow 
wings cover its back like a sloping roof, are a little turned up be- 
hind, and are edged with a wide fringe. Its fore-wings are glossy 



128 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

like satin, and are marbled with white or gray, light brown, and 
dark brown or blackish spots, and there is always one dark square 
spot near the middle of the outer edge. Its hind-wings are black- 
ish. Some of these winged moths appear in May, others in July 
and August, at which times they lay their eggs ; for there are two 
broods of them in the course of the year. The young from the 
first laid eggs come to their growth and finish their transforma- 
tions in six weeks or two months; the others live through the 
winter, and turn to winged moths in the following spring. The 
young moth-worms do not burrow into the grain, as has been as- 
sorted by some writers, who seem to have confounded them with 
the Angoumois grain-worms ; but, as soon as they are hatched, 
they begin to gnaw the grain and cover themselves with the frag- 
ments, which they line with a silken web. As they increase in size 
they fasten together several grains with their webs, so as to make a 
larger cavity, wherein they live. After a while, becoming uneasy 
in their confined habitations, they come out, and w r ander over the 
grain, spinning their threads as they go, till they have found a 
suitable place wdierein to make their cocoons. Thus, w T heat, rye, 
barley, and oats, all of which they attack, will be found full of lumps 
of grains cemented together by these grain- w x orms ; and when they 
are very numerous, the whole surface of the grain in the bin will be 
covered v> T ith a thick crust of webs and of adhering grains. These 
destructive grain-worms are really soft and naked caterpillars, of a 
cylindrical shape, tapering a little at each end, and are provided 
with sixteen legs, the first three pairs of which are conical and 
jointed, and the others fleshy and wart-like. When fully grown, 
they measure four or five tenths of an inch in length, and are of a 
light ochre or buff color, with a reddish head. When about six 
weeks old they leave the grain, and get into cracks, or around the 
sides of corn-bins, and each one then makes itself a little oval pod 
or cocoon, about as large as a grain of wheat. The insects of the 
first brood, as before said, come out of their cocoons, in the winged 
form, in July and August, and lay their eggs for another brood : 
the others remain unchanged in their cocoons, through the winter, 
and take the chrysalis form in March or April following. Three 
weeks afterwards, the shining brown chrysalis forces itself part way 
out of the cocoon, by the help of some little sharp points on its tail, 
and bursts open at the other end, so as to aUow the moth therein 
confined to come forth. 

There is another grain-moth, which, at various times, has been 



INSECTS. 129 

found to be more destructive in granaries, in some provinces of 
France, than the preceding kind. It is the Angoumois moth (Ana- 
campsis ? cerealella), an insect evidently belonging to the family of 
Yponomeutians. The winged moths of this group have only two 
visible feelers, and these are generally long, slender, and curved over 
their heads. Their narrow wings most often overlap each other, 
and cover their backs horizontally when shut. The Angoumois 
grain-moth probably belongs to the modern genus Anacampsis. In 
the year 1768, Colonel Landon Carter, of Sabine Hall, Virginia, 
communicated to the American Philosophical Society at Philadel- 
phia, some interesting " Observations concerning the Fly- weevil that 
destroys wheat." The Angoumois moth, or Anacamjms cerealella, 
in its perfected state, is a four-winged insect, about three eighths of 
an inch long, when its wings are shut. It has a pair of tapering 
curved feelers, turned over its head. Its upper wings are narrow, 
of a light brown color, without spots, and have the lustre of satin ; 
they cover the body horizontally above, but droop a little at the 
sides. The lower wings and the rest of the body are ash-colored. 
This moth lays its eggs, which vary in number from sixty to ninety, 
in clusters, on the ears of wheat, rye, and barley, most often while 
these plants are growing in the field, and the ears are young and 
tender ; sometimes also on stored grain in the autumn. Hence it 
appears that they breed twice a year ; the insects from the eggs 
laid in the early part of summer, coming to perfection and provi- 
ding for another brood of moth-worms in the autumn. The little 
worm-like caterpillars, as soon as they are hatched, disperse, and 
each one selects a single grain, into which it burrows immediately 
at the most tender jDart, and remains concealed therein after the 
grain is harvested. It devours the mealy substance within the hull ; 
and this destruction goes on so secretly, that it can only be detected 
by the softness of the grain or the loss of its weight. When fully 
grown this caterpillar is not more than one fifth of an inch long. It 
is of a white color, with a brownish head ; and it has six small 
jointed legs, and ten extremely small wart-like proplegs. Duhamel 
has represented it as having two little horns just behind the head, and 
two short bristles at the end of its tapering body. Having eaten 
out the heart of the grain, which is just enough for all its wants, it 
spins a silken web or curtain to divide the hollow, lengthwise, into 
two unequal parts, the smaller containing the rejected fragments 
of its food, and the larger cavity serving instead of a cocoon, wherein 
the insect undergoes its transformations. Before turning to a ehf'y- 



130 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

salis it gnaws a small hole nearly or quite through the hull, and 
sometimes also through the chaffy covering of the grain, through 
which it can make its escape easily when it becomes a winged moth. 
The inserts of the first, or summer brood, come to maturity in about 
three works, remain but a short time in the chrysalis state, and 
tnrn to winged moths in the autumn, and at this time may be 
found, in the evening, in great numbers, laying their eggs on the 
grain stored in barns and granaries. The moth-worms of the 
second brood remain in the grain through the winter, and do not 
change to winged insects till the following summer, when they come 
out, fly into the fields in the night, and lay their eggs on the young 
ears of the growing grain. When damaged grain is sown it comes 
up very thin ; the infected kernels never sprout, but the insects 
lodged in them remain alive, finish their transformations in the field, 
and in clue time come out of the ground in the winged form. 

It has been proved by experience that the ravages of the two 
kinds of grain-moths, whose history has been now given, can be 
effectually checked by drying the damaged grain in an oven or 
kiln ; and that a heat of one hundred and sixty-seven degrees, by 
Fahrenheit's thermometer, continued during twelve hours, will kill 
the insects in all their forms. Indeed the heat may be reduced to 
one hundred and four degrees, with the same effect, but the grain 
must then be exposed to it for the space of two days. The other 
means, that have been employed for the preservation of grain from 
these destructive moths, it is unnecessary to describe ; they are 
probably well known to most of our farmers and millers, and are 
rarely so effectual as the process above mentioned. 

Hessian Fly. — Under the name of Diptera, signifying two- 
winged, are included all the insects that have only two wings, and 
are provided with two little knobbed threads in the place of hind- 
wings, and a mouth formed for sucking or lapping. Various kinds 
of gnats and of flies are therefore the insects belonging to this order. 
The proboscis or sucker, wherewith they take their food, is placed 
under the head, and sometimes can be drawn up and concealed, 
partly or wholly, within the cavity of the mouth. 

The young insects, hatched from the eggs of gnats and of flies, 
are fleshy larvae, usually of a whitish color, and without legs. They 
are commonly called maggots, and sometimes are mistaken for 
worms. They vary a good deal in their forms, structure, habits, 
and transformations, so that it is somewhat difficult to give any 
general description of them. Most insects are hatched from eggs 



INSECTS. 131 

which are laid by the mother on the substances that are to serve 
for the food of her young. 

The far-famed Hessian fly and the wheat-fly of Europe, and of 
this country, are small gnats or midges, and belong to the family 
called Cecidomyiad^e, or gall-gnats. The insects of this family are 
very numerous, and most of them, in the maggot state, live in galls 
or unnatural enlargements of the stems, leaves, and buds of plants, 
caused by the punctures of the winged insects in laying their eggs. 
The Hessian fly, wheat-fly, and some others differ from the ma- 
jority in not producing such alterations in plants. The proboscis of 
these insects is very short, and does not contain the piercing bris- 
tles found in the long proboscis of the biting gnats and musquitos. 
Their antennae are long, composed of many little, bead-like joints, 
which are larger in the males than in the other sex ; and each joint 
is surrounded with short hairs. Their eyes are kidney-shaped. 
Their legs are rather long and very slender. Their wings have 
only two, three, or four veins in them, and are fringed wich little 
hairs around the edges ; when not in use, they are generally carried 
flat on the back. The hind-body of the females often ends with a 
retractile, conical tube, wherewith they deposit their eggs. Their 
young are little, footless maggots, tapering at each end, and gene- 
rally of a deep yellow or orange color. They live on the juices of 
plants, and undergo their transformations either in these plants, or 
in the ground. 

The Hessian fly was scientifically described by Mr. Say, in 1817, 
under the name of Cecidomyia destructor. It obtained its common 
name from a supposition that it was brought to this country, in 
some straw, by the Hessian troops under the command of Sir Wil- 
liam Howe in the war of the Revolution. 

The head and thorax of this fly are black. The hind-body is 
tawny, and covered with fine grayish hairs. The wings are black- 
ish, but are more or less tinged with yellow at the base, where also 
they are very narrow ; they are fringed with short hairs, and are 
rounded at the end. The body measures about one tenth of an 
inch in length, and the wings expand one quarter of an inch, or 
more. It is a true Cecidomyia, differing from Lasioptei*a in the 
shortness of the first joint of its feet, and in the greater length of 
its antennae, the bead-like swellings whereof are also most distant 
from each other. Two broods or generations are brought to ma- 
turity in the course of a year, and the flies appear in the spring and 
autumn, but rather earlier in the Southern and Middle States than 



132 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

in New England. The transformations of some in eaeh brood ap- 
pear to be retarded beyond the usual time, as is found to be the 
ease with many other insects ; so that the life of these individuals, 
from the egg to the winged state, extends to a year or more in 
length, whereby the continuation of the species in after years is 
made more sure. It has frequently been asserted that the tries lay 
their eggs on the grain in the ear ; but whether this be true or not, 
it is certain that they do lay their eggs on the young plants, and 
long before the grain is ripe ; for many persons have witnessed and 
testified to this fact. In the New England States and New York, 
winter wheat is usually sown about the first of September. To- 
wards the end of this month, and in October, when the grain has 
sprouted, and begins to show a leaf or two, the flies appear in the 
fields, and, having paired, begin to lay their eggs, in which business 
they are occupied for several weeks. The Hessian fly lays her eggs 
in the small creases of the young leaves of the wheat. If the 
weather be warm, the eggs commonly hatch in four days after they 
are laid. The maggots, when they first come out of the shells, are 
of a pale red color. Forthwith they crawl down the leaf, and work 
their way between it and the main stalk, passing downwards till 
they come to a joint, just above which they remain, a little below 
the surface of the ground, with the head towards the root of the 
plant. Having thus fixed themselves upon the stalk, they become 
stationary, and never move from the place till their transformations 
are completed. They do not eat the stalk, neither do they pene- 
trate within it, as some persons have supposed, but they lie length- 
wise upon its surface, covered by the lower part of the leaves, and 
are nourished wholly by the sap, which they appear to take by suc- 
tion. They soon lose their reddish color, turn pale, and will be 
found to be clouded with whitish spots ; and through their trans- 
parent skins a greenish stripe may be seen in the middle of their 
bodies. As they increase in size, and grow plump and firm, they 
become imbedded in the side of the stem, by the pressure of their 
bodies upon the growing plant. One maggot thus placed seldom 
destroys the plant ; but, when two or three are fixed in this man- 
ner around the stem, they weaken and impoverish the plant, and 
cause it to fall down, or to wither and die. They usually come to 
their full size in five or six iveeks, and then measure about three 
twentieths of an inch in length. Their skin now gradually hardens, 
becomes brownish, and soon changes to a bright chestnut color. 
This change usually happens about the first of December, when the 



INSECTS. 133 

insect may be said to enter on the pupa state, for after this time it 
takes no more nourishment. The hrown and leathery skin, within 
which the maggot has changed to a pupa or chrysalis, is long egg- 
shaped, smooth, and marked with eleven transverse lines, and mea- 
sures one eighth of an inch in length. In this form it has been 
commonly likened to a flax-seed. The maggots of the Hessian fly 
do not cast off their skins in order to become pupae, wherein they 
differ from the larvae of most other gnats, and agree with those of 
common flies ; neither do they spin cocoons, as some of the Ceci- 
doinyians are supposed to do. The pupa gradually cleaves from 
the dried skin of the larva, and, in the course of two or three weeks, 
is wholly detached from it. Still inclosed within this skin, which 
thus becomes a kind of cocoon or shell for the pupa, it remains 
throughout the winter, safely lodged in its bed on the side of the 
stem, near the root of the plant, and protected from the cold by 
the dead leaves. Towards the end of April and in the forepart of 
May, or as soon as the weather becomes warm enough in the spring, 
the insects are transformed to flies. They make their escape from 
their winter quarters by breaking through one end of their shells 
and the remains of the leaves around them. Very soon after the 
flies come forth in the spring, they are prepared to lay their eggs 
on the leaves of the wheat sown in the autumn before, and also on 
the spring-sown wheat, that begins, at this time, to appear above 
the surface of the ground. They continue to come forth and lay 
their eggs for the space of three weeks, after which they entirely 
disappear from the fields. The maggots hatched from these eggs, 
pass along the stems of the wheat, nearly to the roots, become sta- 
tionary, and turn to pupae in June and July. In this state they 
are found at the time of harvest, and, when the grain is gathered, 
they remain in the stubble in the fields. To this, however, as Mr. 
Havens remarks, there are some exceptions ; for a few of the in- 
sects do not pass so far down the side of the stems as to be out of 
the way of the sickle when the grain is reaped, and consequently 
will be gathered and carried away with the straw. Most of them 
are transformed to flies in the autumn, but others remain unchanged 
in the stubble or straw till the next spring. In the winged state, 
these flies, or more properly gnats, are very active, and, though 
evry small and seemingly feeble, are able to fly to a considerable 
distance in search of fields of young grain. Their principal mi- 
grations take place in August and September in the Middle States, 
where they undergo their final transformations earlier than in New 



134 THE PESTS OF THE FARM. 

England. There, too, they sometimes take wing in immense swarms, 
and. being probably aided by the wind, are not stopped in their 
course either by mountains or rivers. On their first appearance in 
Pennsylvania they were seen to pass the Delaware like a cloud. 
Being attracted, by Light, they have been known, during the wheat 
harvest, to enter houses in the evening in such numbers as seriously 
to annoy the inhabitants. 

The old discussion, concerning the place where the Hessian fly 
lays her eggs, has lately been revived by Miss Margaretta H. Morris, 
of Germantown, Pennsylvania. Miss Morris believes she has es- 
tablished that the ovum (egg) of this destructive insect is deposited 
in the seed of the wheat, and not in the stalk or culm. She has 
watched the progress of the animal since June, 1836, and has sat- 
isfied herself that she has frequently seen the larva within the seed. 
She has also detected the larva, at various stages of its progress, 
from the seed to between the body of the stalk and the sheath of 
the leaves. According to her observations, the recently hatched 
larva penetrates to the centre of the straw, where it may be found 
of a pale greenish white semitransparent appearance, in form some- 
what resembling a silk worm. From one to six of these have been 
found at various heights from the seed to the third ioint. From 
the foregoing, we are led to infer, that the egg^ being sowed with 
the grain, is hatched in the ground, and that the maggot afterwards 
mounts from the seed through the middle of the stem, and, having 
reached a proper height, escapes from the hollow of the straw to 
the outside, where it takes the pupa or flax-seed state. The fact 
that the Hessian fly does ordinarily lay her eggs on the young 
leaves of wheat, barley, and rye, both in the spring and in the au- 
tumn, is too w^ell authenticated to admit of any doubt. If, there- 
fore, the observations of Miss Morris are found to be equally cor- 
rect, they will serve to show, still more than the foregoing history, 
how variable and extraordinary is the economy of this insect, and 
how great are the resources wherewith it is provided for the con- 
tinuation of its kind. 

Various means have been recommended for preventing or less- 
ening the ravages of the Hessian fly ; but they have hitherto failed, 
either because they have not been adapted to the end in view, or 
because they have not been universally adopted ; and it appears 
doubtful whether any of them will ever entirely exterminate the 
insect. Miss Morris advises obtaining " fresh seed from localities in 
which the fly has not made its appearance," and that "by this 



INSECTS. 135 

means the crop of the following year will be uninjured ; but in order 
to avoid the introduction of straggling insects of the kind from ad- 
jacent fields, it is requisite that a whole neighborhood should per- 
severe in this precaution for two or more years in succession." The 
stouter varieties of wheat ought always to be chosen, •and the land 
should be kept in good condition. If fall wheat is sown late, some 
of the eggs will be avoided, but risk of winter-killing the plants 
will be incurred. If cattle are permitted to graze the wheat fields 
during the fall, they will devour many of the eggs. A large num- 
ber of the pupse may be destroyed by burning the wheat-stubble 
immediately after harvest, and then plowing and harrowing the 
land. This method will undoubtedly do much good. As the Hes- 
sian fly also lays its eggs, to some extent, on rye and barley, these 
crops should be treated in a similar manner. It is found that lux- 
uriant crops more often escape injury than those that are thin and 
light. Steeping the grain and rolling it in plaster or lime tends to 
promote a rapid and vigorous growth, and will therefore prove 
beneficial. Sowing the fields with wood ashes, in the proportion 
of two bushels to an acre, in the autumn, and again in the first and 
last weeks in April, and as late in the month of May as the sower 
can pass over the wheat without injury to it, has been found use- 
ful. Favorable reports have been made upon the practice of allow- 
ing sheep to feed off the crop late in the autumn, and it has also 
been recommended to turn them into the fields again in the spring, 
in order to retard the growth of the plant till after the fly has dis- 
appeared. Too much cannot be said in favor of a judicious man- 
agement of the soil, feeding off the crop by cattle in the autumn, 
and burning the stubble after harvest ; a proper and general atten- 
tion to which will materially lessen the evils arising from the dep- 
redations of this noxious insect. 



SAXTON'S RURAL HAND BOOKS. 



SAXTOX'S HAND BOOKS OP RURAL AND DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 

All Arranged and Adapted to the Use of American Farmers. 
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The Hive and Honey Bee ; 

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An Essay on Manures ; 

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Chemistry Made Easy : 

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Elements of Agriculture ; 

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Milburn on the Cow ; edited by Kicharcbon. 

With Illustrations. 
™i „ A ~„_,:^_ 771 r* i 



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By Henry S. Randall. $1 25. 

A gricultural Chemistry. 

By Justus Liebig. Cloth, $1 ; cheap edition, 25 cts. 

Animal Chemistry. 

By J. Liebig. Cloth, 50 cts. ; cheap ed. paper, 25 etfc 

Liebig's Complete Works, 

In one vol. Svo. $1. 



AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS AND 
MACHINERY, 

Suited to all Countries. 

FIELD AND GARDEN SEEDS. 



FARMERS, PLANTERS AND MERCHANTS 

WILL FIND AT THE 

AGRICULTURAL WAREHOUSE 

®F 

A. B. ALLEN & Co., 

189 & 191 WATER STREET, New York, 

The largest assortment in America of tools and machines suited to general 

culture. Most of the implements sold by them, are manufactured in 

their own machine shop, under the direct supervision of one of 

the firm, where the best of seasoned timber only is used, 

with iron, steel and other materials of the first quality. 

Plows. — Of these we keep .constantly on hand upwards of ONE HUNDRED 
different patterns, suitable for breaking up new ground, meadows, swamps, stubble, 
corn, cotton, rice and sugar lands. Also, a great variety of harrows, cultivators, cotton 
sweeps, rollers, seed sowers, corn planters, grain cradles, hay and straw cutters, corn 
shelters, grain mills, shov^e'Is^ spades, hoes, scythes, rakes, wheels, wagons, carts, wheel- 
barrows, pumps, road scr'tfffbrs, axes, chains, &c. 

Horse PoTirers.— The. Railway or Endless Chain, Taplin's Circular, and other 
kinds, suitable for one to eigtii"4iorses. Threshers, Fan Mills, and Smut Machines. 

Steam Engines, for faifcn and other purposes. 

Sugar Mills, Rice and Coffee Hullers, Rice Threshers, and Cotton Gins. 

Tapioca Machines, for grating the Yuca, Mandioca and other farinaceous 
roots for making sago, tapioca, starch, &e. 

Portable Saw Mills, Wind Mills, Grain Mills, Pumps for Wells, Mines, and 
Irrigating. 

Reaping* and Mowing" Machines, Horse and hand Hay Rakes. 

Casting's for Plows and all Agricultural Machinery. 

Horticultural Tools, embracing all suitable for the kitchen, and flower 
garden, trimming shrubbery, mowing lawns, &c. 

SEEDS FOR THE FIELD AND GARDEN. 

These are imported directly from Europe, or grown expressly for us in the United 
States. They are fresh and of the best qualities. 

Fertilisers.— Peruvian Guano, Poudrette, Plaster of Paris, Bone Dust, and Phos- 
phate of Lime. 

IMFROVED STOCK. 

Durham, Devon, and other cattle ; Cotswold, Leicester, Southdown, Merino and Sax- 
on Sheep ; Suffolk, Lincoln, and Berkshire Swine. 

A Descriptive, Pictorial Catalogue of over 100 pages, will be given, 
on application from customers, or sent to them by mail, on enclosing four letter stamps, 
to pre-pay postage, as required by the present post-office law. 

A. B. ALLEN & Co., 189 and 191 Water st. New York. 



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